Academy of Azeroth
by Lunarelle
Summary: Think of your favorite Warcraft characters, in high school together. The Academy of Azeroth, where magic swirls around each and every student. Love, deception, fantasy, and romance, all wrapped up into one. AU. Rated M for future situations. H/C, Romance, Drama, Friendship, Femslash! If you've read Fall and Rebirth, I added Faith to this. Sporadic updates.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer – Most of the characters depicted here are the property of Blizzard Entertainment. I am merely a visitor in the wonderful World of Warcraft.  
**

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"Faith, hurry up and finish getting ready! Your transport will be here in twenty minutes!"

"I'm ready, Mom!" cried Faith, brushing her long honey-colored hair and fastening the little silver hoops to her ears. She was wearing a long navy blue dress with white accents and flat navy blue boots, wanting to make a good impression on this first day of school. On the fourth finger of her right hand, she wore a single silver ring – a thin forest vine that twisted prettily in three layers and was dotted with a single crystal flower in the middle. She'd had that ring for years, and loved it.

These were the only items she would bring with her to the Academy of Azeroth. Everything else, she would leave at home, even her undergarments. Everything would be provided to her at the academy.

She looked at her room for one last time, knowing that she wouldn't see it again until Christmas, or Winter's Veil as it was called in the circle she belonged to.

She was an elf, a blood elf, or Sin'dorei. Her parents, Pellien and Velariel had been to the Academy before her, as had her sister Ravenna, who was in her final year at the University of Dalaran.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," said her mother, smoothing both her eyebrows. "Are you ready?"

Faith nodded. She was a little nervous, now that the time was here. "I wonder what it will be like. You know, to be there and study."

"I think you're going to have a great time. And don't worry about tomorrow's exam. It's just to figure out which field of study you'll be assigned to."

The academy had nine different fields of study, which were also called tracks. Her mother had been in the Priest track, while her father had been a Paladin. Her sister had followed in their mother's footsteps, and had studied to be a priestess as well.

Faith, for her part, didn't really know what she was better suited for. She had always felt magic surrounding her, both light and shadowy. She felt she would be a very good mage, and hoped that she would be suited to that track. Then again, she knew how to use a bow and arrow very accurately. Would she be chosen as a ranger?

"Now, sweetheart, there are a few things I want you to remember. You've never really been outside of this town, where we live with other Sin'dorei."

"Hidden from 'normal people'." Faith's tone was less than amused. She hated to be reminded of the fact that we had to be hidden from the rest of the world.

"Well, normal humans don't like to be reminded that the rest of us exist. Even the humans who possess otherworldly abilities have to hide from them."

Faith looked out the window, seeing what appeared to be a perfectly normal neighborhood: pretty houses surrounded by oak trees, neatly organized in blocks, so that anybody passing through wouldn't notice the abnormalities. In their front yard, for example, a beautiful red hawkstrider was grazing for worms, occasionally preening his feathers. Normal humans didn't notice things that were so obviously magical in nature. But they noticed elves if they looked very carefully. They were apt to see the an elf was taller, more beautiful, and had longer ears than a human. Not to mention the glowing eyes, which were generally blue for elves, but sometimes, that was different.

Faith's eyes were a softly glowing honey-amber color, almost the same color as her hair. Her mother had the same eyes, while both her father and sister's eyes were a dark blue.

"What we mean is that you've never really interacted with other races before, other than humans."

"What about Valrek?" she asked, referring to the orc who ran one of the shops they went to on a regular basis.

"Okay, yes, and Valrek. But you're going to see all sorts of different races at the academy. You're going to see gnomes and dwarves, and draenei, and night elves. Probably some goblins as well."

"You might also see some worgen, trolls, pandaren and tauren," added her father.

Faith knew about the different magical races of people on the planet. It was difficult not to. Earth had always had more humans than any other race, but, living amongst them, most of them hidden from view, were the other, "lesser" races. "What about them?"

"Well, we don't want you to be alarmed by them, honey. Most of them are nice, although, of course, you have your bad apples in every race. So we want you to use your best judgment when making friends."

"Just be careful."

Faith nodded again, going into the front hall of their home to wait for the transport that would take her to the academy. She was fourteen years old, the age every child was when going to school for the first time. Most of the children remained in school until their eighteenth year, after which they moved on to the university of their choice – generally the University of Dalaran, or Farstrider University if they were fighters – or ended up as apprentices.

"You're making me nervous," she told her parents.

"There's no need for you to feel nervous about anything. You're going to be fine. Oh, just… please stay clear of the warlocks, all right? They're a bad influence on everyone."

Faith had heard this before. Her parents had always distrusted warlocks, claiming them to be worse than rogues because they summoned demons and performed what they called dark magic. She'd never met a warlock before, but she had read about them. Sure, a lot of them seemed like shady people, but she'd read of some warlocks that had done good in the world, as much as mages and druids.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure I'll find myself a nice group of friends once I get there."

"There's something else we haven't discussed yet. And we were hoping to not have to talk this over with you, but…"

"What is it?"

"Dark elves, honey."

Dark elves. Faith felt a shiver coursing down her spine. She'd never even seen one in real life. Elves who had been like her, Sin'dorei, but to whom something had happened, either dark magic, or poison.

The dark elves were known as the Tal'dorei, or death elves, had a horrible reputation. They looked dead because of what had been done to them, and because of that, they turned into something dark and twisted. Some of them were sent to the academy, but it didn't always end well.

"Your father and I went to the Academy with a Tal'dorei, sweetheart, and we don't want you to have the same experience we did. His name was Dar'Khan, and he was vicious. He was forced to leave in his third year because of the kind of magic he did."

"It was terrible," said Faith's father. "He nearly killed someone, and had fun while he did it."

"Was he a warlock?"

"No, but he might as well have been. He was a mage, and he took his magic down a dark path, sweetheart."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because we heard that a dark elf would probably be starting school today. And I know that with your curious nature, you're going to want to see what that elf is all about. Please don't."

A dark elf in school with her. Chances are that she would have very little to do with such a creature. "I'll keep what you said in mind."

Her parents hugged her, just as some kind of shiver seemed to go through the air. The transport was there.

"Be good. See you at Winter's Veil, all right? Write to us to tell us which track you got into tomorrow!"

Suddenly, Faith was scared. Terrified. What would it be like for her? Away from her parents? What if she failed? What if something horrible went wrong?

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to her house and stepped outside.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Beginning of Everything

The bus looked like a regular yellow school bus, except that its windows were tinted. Faith saw shapes inside, and heard laughter coming from it, but nothing was distinctive.

She stepped towards it, wanting to look back at her parents, but not wanting her new classmates to think she was afraid of anything. So she kept her eyes forward as she climbed aboard, nearly shouting when she saw that the driver was a creature with blue skin and green hair – a troll.

"Faith Everstone?" he asked her.

He had what seemed to be tusks protruding from his mouth. She nodded slowly.

"Come on up, mon, don't be shy."

Faith swallowed and attempted to smile, "Good morning," she said to him politely.

The troll nodded to her, "Take a seat, child." He closed the doors behind her, and she briefly looked back, seeing her parents at the door, holding hands.

Swallowing again and blinking rapidly, Faith faced the other students on the bus. She saw Sin'dorei like her, most of whom smiled at her, and several humans. But most of the other creatures, she had never seen before.

She began to walk down the aisle, looking for a free seat. Almost all of them were taken, except for a few at the very back, where a lone figure was sitting.

She was beautiful. Her skin was a delicate shade of pale blue-gray, and the hair that peeked from beneath the black hood she wore was more silver than blond. Her lips were nearly black, and the eyes she turned towards her were a dark glowing red.

A Tal'dorei.

Faith felt her breath disappear as her heart skipped one beat, then two. Somehow, she found herself walking towards this girl, whose beauty was terrifying, but very, very real.

The girl frowned when she approached.

"May I sit?" she asked her.

The girl's eyes flickered towards everyone else on the bus – checking for empty seats maybe. She gave a nod.

"My name is Faith," she said to her as she sat down. She felt a chill coming from the girl next to her. She'd heard that this was something else about them – their skin was cold as ice.

The girl looked at her, her eyes seemed sad, but her face was inscrutable, "Sylvanas," she said. The sound of her voice sent shivers up and down her spine. Several kids looked around, whispering, possibly wondering why Faith was sitting next to her.

Sylvanas. The name fit the dark elf like a glove.

"It's nice to meet you," said Faith, feeling shy all of a sudden.

Sylvanas turned her head towards the window, "You won't think that after you get to know me. If you decide to know me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

She looked at Faith again, not saying anything. After a while, she turned back towards the window, watching as other neighborhoods went by. She didn't say anything for the rest of the trip, which lasted an hour, being as the bus was traveling at magical speeds.

Faith didn't mind. She studied Sylvanas profile for a moment, feeling odd as she did so. After a while, she stopped looking at her and instead listened to the snatches of conversation around her. Everyone was discussing the upcoming exam, wondering what it would be like, and which track they would be assigned to. A girl, whose voice carried well in the enclosed space, said that she was certain that she would be a mage.

"No need to know what the darkling over there will be. Probably a warlock or something."

Sylvanas didn't give any indication of having heard anything.

"I wondered why that girl sat with her."

"I dunno. Why don't you go ask her?"

"Maybe I will."

A moment later, a boy appeared next to Faith, holding onto the seats to keep his balance. He was tall and muscled, obviously a warrior. "We were wondering why you decided to sit down next to… that."

Faith looked up at him, "Because I like to form my own opinions of people before I judge them."

"And what's your opinion?"

"That she's a little cold, but she doesn't seem mean. I'd be cold too if nobody spoke to me."

"Nobody's talking to her because she's a dead elf. I mean, look at her. It's a miracle she doesn't stink of rotting meat."

Sylvanas _did_ have a smell hanging about her, but it wasn't wholly unpleasant. It reminded Faith of a cold winter's day after a heavy rain. "It's the first day of school. We should get to know each other before we start calling people names, don't you think?"

"What are you, some kind of bleeding heart? Sitting with the dead girl because –."

Faith got to her feet slowly. She didn't notice that Sylvanas turned her head to look at her.

"She's not dead. Something happened to her, that's all, and it probably wasn't her fault. So before you start treating her like a victim of the plague, why don't you ask her what happened to her?"

"Because I don't care what happened. All I know is that she's a darkling, and that she should be exterminated like the rest of them. We all know what they do, and they shouldn't be getting any training from anybody."

"Well said, Arthas!" cried someone.

"That's your opinion, right, and I have my own. But it was nice to meet you, Arthas. I think your friends are waiting for you to return to them."

Faith sat back down, and Sylvanas stared at her, her eyes betraying some surprise now.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said quietly. Her voice had an undertone that chilled her, almost seeming to come from the depths of an open crypt.

"They're bullying you for no reason."

"They have a reason," said Sylvanas. "I would have done the same before I turned eight years old."

"Is that when… I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking. It's your private stuff."

"I was poisoned. Someone wanted to get back at my mother, and so they poisoned me. The venom came from a Nerubian, a necromancer. You know what those are right?"

Nerubian… the word caused Faith to hug herself. Undead spider-like creatures that had come to the surface when their underground homes had been destroyed by some cataclysm known as the War of the Spider. As for necromancers, everyone knew what they were.

Faith nodded. "That's terrible."

Sylvanas shrugged, "It happens."

The landscape outside had changed. Faith felt the subtle shift to indicate that they were crossing some kind of magical barrier. All of a sudden, they began to see otherworldly animals. Dragonhawks and hawkstriders more majestic than the one Faith's parents owned roamed around a clearing at the edge of a forest. Faith barely glimpsed a pack of red cats in the forest. Lynxes, most probably.

"Oh…" she breathed. "Is that a gryphon?"

Next to her, Sylvanas nodded. Even she seemed awed by what she was seeing.

The forest wasn't the usual type that normal humans would have been used to. The trees looked fuller here, more unusual in their shape and color. Some of them were golden, while others were a vibrant spring green. Faith looked at Sylvanas, and the dark elf looked right back at her. She felt something stirring within her. She didn't care suddenly, what field of study she would be assigned to. All she knew was that she wanted to continue spending time with this girl.

Sylvanas looked away first, hitching in a breath, "Look, it's a dragon," she said quietly.

A dragon. A real, live, huge dragon. Bronze in color, it was swooping through the air in an amazing array of patterns, leaving some kind of glittering trail behind it.

"Sands of Time," whispered Faith.

"What?"

"What the dragon's leaving behind. It's called the Sands of Time. People collect it for time traveling spells and things like that."

Sylvanas looked at her again, "You're probably going to be a mage, aren't you?"

"Maybe. I don't know. What about you?"

She shrugged, "Everyone says I'll be a rogue."

"But what do you want to be?"

She didn't say anything for a while, her eyes trailing after the dragon in the sky. "A ranger."

Faith smiled, "I think that you would make a great ranger."

Sylvanas gave her a look, a smile playing at the corner of her lips, "Thank you."

"Look, everyone! There's Azeroth!"

The two girls pressed their faces against the window. Houses sat at the edge of the forest. People of all races rode different kinds of mounts, from purebred horses to nightsabers and hawkstriders of all colors and sizes. Scholars sat in groups and talked, or on benches with a book. In a corner, they saw a couple embracing.

Faith turned away from that last sight, her cheeks warm. Obviously, the others had seen the couple, as there was an outburst of nervous giggling, especially amongst the girls.

"I wonder if there's another darkling here, so maybe that one can have a _boyfriend_. Ew, just imagine." The girl whose voice carried, and who had long blond hair that flowed down her back, pointed to Sylvanas and laughed.

Faith was about to say something, but the Tal'dorei touched her fingers gently. She was so startled by that cold touch that she looked down, her lips parted. Her amber eyes met Sylvanas' red ones.

 _Oh my God…_

Her heart was beating far too rapidly in her chest. She couldn't swallow suddenly, her throat completely dry. Her hands grew cold, and her cheeks remained warm. For a moment, she was absolutely certain that she was going to lean over and kiss Sylvanas' lips. She wanted to. It was a want that had come out of nowhere, crashing into her so quickly that it left her breathless.

Sylvanas kept her eyes on her, their fingers still touching. Emotion swirled inside her, so different than the rage she'd felt since she had been poisoned. How was it that one girl, one single girl, could have this kind of effect on her in such a short amount of time?

"There be the castle," said the driver.

Both of them looked away from each other – forcing themselves to do so – and glanced out the window. Despite what they were feeling at that very moment, neither of them could help but wonder at what they were seeing.

The Academy of Azeroth, enormous in and of itself, had been built along the lines of every race. But the castle, which was the very heart of the academy, managed to encompass each aspect of elven architecture, both of the night elves, and blood elves.

Five spires, glittering like spikes of gold, pearl and ruby, rose into the sky from a structure that looked both delicate and imposing. Archways dominated the courtyards, which were filled with all sorts of plant life, tended to by druids and shaman.

"People live their whole lives without seeing such a sight," breathed Faith.

Sylvanas gave a nod, her fingers briefly squeezing Faith's before removing her hand.

Faith felt the loss of contact immediately. It was almost painful, and she didn't quite know why she wanted to cry all of a sudden. She was afraid of what she was feeling, horribly afraid, but it was exciting as well. She couldn't tell whether Sylvanas felt the same loss she did, as her face gave nothing away, but she had been the one to touch her in the first place…

The bus stopped just outside the gates, where they all saw another troll waiting. This troll also had blue skin, although it was lighter than their driver's, and his hair was red. An air of power emanated from him, they could feel it even while still inside the vehicle.

"Welcome to the Academy," said the driver.

Everyone began to get off the bus, all chatter having completely ceased. Faith could sense the kids' sudden fear. Her own tasted coppery in her mouth, almost as though she had swallowed a cupful of blood. She stood up, and Sylvanas stood with her. She was taller than her, though not by much. Part of her thought that it was perfect, although she couldn't figure out why.

They were the last ones to step off the bus. The troll's eyes immediately focused on Sylvanas, who didn't flinch away.

"I welcome you all to the Academy of Azeroth." He spoke with the same accent the driver had, but his seemed more cultivated somehow. "My name be Vol'jin, and I be the headmaster of this school."

Several people looked at each other in worry. A troll was headmaster of the academy?

He didn't seem to pay attention to the sudden whispers that had cropped up, and kept going, "You will be spending all day with the other new students of the school. Tomorrow, you will face the Entrance Exam, to find out which studies you be best suited to. Any questions?"

A night elven girl raised her hand, "How many new students are there? Are we the only ones?"

"About seventy, I believe," he replied. He looked at Sylvanas again, "Understand this. We do not tolerate dark magic of any kind. What we do here is for the good of the world, not for personal gain. You can be a warlock, a rogue, or a mage. Whatever your specialty be, you will not be permitted to use your skills outside of the way you have been trained here."

Faith could feel Sylvanas beside her, tense as a coil. But her face remained impassive somehow.

"Now, by stepping through these gates, you all be swearing an oath to the academy. The oath to uphold the academy rules and to be loyal to us and to each other." He gestured towards the gates, where polished silver plaques rested.

 _Oath to the Academy of Azeroth_

 _As Scholars, we vow loyalty to the Academy and its staff_

 _We vow to uphold the law as set by the founders of the school_

 _And vow to be truthful and honorable in our studies_

 _We vow to keep the peace and honor each other_

 _From now until the end of our time here_

"Each of you is to rest his or her hand on one of the plaques, as a contract signing. The plaques are imbued with magic, and will recognize that you are officially giving the oath to the academy. Who will be first?"

Nobody moved at first. But then, as though an invisible hand had pushed them, Sylvanas and Faith stepped forward together, each going towards one of the plaques and placing a hand there. Faith felt an intense tingling there as magic surrounded her hand, beginning from each of her fingers and moving down to the palm to end at her wrist. When the tingling ceased, she walked through the gates, Sylvanas right beside her.

They were walking over an arched bridge, which was over what appeared to be a deep river. Glancing over the side, Faith felt a moment of dizziness, and nearly grabbed Sylvanas to keep from falling. Below her, she saw fantastical shapes in the water. Elementals and water serpents seemed to mix with what appeared to be sea turtles and other creatures she couldn't quite identify.

At the end of the bridge stood a man who was obviously waiting for them. He had long red hair and a full red beard, and was dressed in mage's robes. He seemed serious, but his eyes were twinkling. Faith instantly liked him.

"Congratulations on being the first two students to cross the threshold of the Academy," he said. "My name is Master Rhonin, and while I'm a mage instructor, I will be more than happy to answer any of your questions."

"Thank you, Master Rhonin," said Faith as Sylvanas gave a nod.

"Have you got any questions before your classmates arrive?"

"When we're picked to go into our field of study, will we still be able to interact with other students not in our track?"

Master Rhonin smiled, "Of course you will. You will have electives during your first two years here, which are areas that you would like to study in, but aren't your main priority. For example, when I was here, I was in the Mage Track, but I also took a course on the Light for two years." He looked at them, turning first to Sylvanas, "It seems to me like you will be in the Ranger Track, and you…" he turned to Faith, "Hmmm, some kind of magical track, but I can't pinpoint it."

"Is that bad?" asked Faith. She'd never heard of anybody being sent home because they couldn't find a particular field of study, but her father had told her of an instance where, in his year, a girl who would have been more suited to be a rogue had elected to become a ranger, which had ended badly for her. She'd never fully belonged there, and it had shown.

"No. But you have both light and shadow inside you."

"So… between a shadow priest and a mage?"

He squinted a little, "Perhaps. You will see tomorrow. Whichever track you're assigned to, I'm sure it will be one that you will excel in. The two of you are very powerful."

Faith and Sylvanas glanced at each other, but said nothing more. Their companions were beginning to arrive, some of them clearly annoyed to not have been the first ones to step forward.

"What, are you really going to be best friends with a darkling?" asked Arthas, who was right behind Faith. He poked her in the back once.

Faith turned around, smiling, "And if I were, that would change your life how?"

"Well, you'd never be able to be my girlfriend, for one thing."

Turning towards Master Rhonin again, Faith began to laugh, "Oh, that'd be reason enough for me."

"Settle down, settle down," said Master Rhonin. He introduced himself to the others, explaining who he was. "I will be taking you on a tour of the academy, which will take most of the day. I hope you're all wearing comfortable shoes, because you're going to be walking a lot. Let's go!"

They all began to follow Master Rhonin, everyone trying to be first. Faith found herself roughly shoved aside by Arthas and his blonde friend, and would have fallen had Sylvanas not caught her.

"I saw that!" called Rhonin, turning around. "Don't do that again. You just swore an oath to honor each other. Will you already break it?"

He started walking again, and they followed him silently, looking around. There was a freshness to the air that was invigorating. The scent of delicate flowers permeated the breeze that seemed to welcome them to the academy. It was delightful.

Or it would have been. Older students were openly staring at Sylvanas, some of them in shock, while others radiated hostility. Sylvanas didn't pay attention to them, instead listening to Master Rhonin as he explained how the school had come into being.

"Who can tell me why this school was first founded?"

Faith raised her hand right away, and he nodded towards her, "It happened just before the Middle Ages, just as the War of the Spider was happening below ground. Things were so hectic that anybody in our world had to hide form the general population to avoid causing harm to everyone. The founders built the school so that people could send their children here to learn their craft, although they can choose to teach them at home if that's what they wish."

"Well put," he said. "Your name?"

"Faith Everstone."

"Faith, you are correct. The founders, who each followed a different track from each other, decided to build this school because not many people in those days were able to go out there," he gestured towards the gates, "and learn whatever they needed to learn in order to succeed in life. Oh, humans could go to regular school, of course, but that was depriving them of the life they should have had."

He turned and gestured towards an open area where several people were practicing what appeared to be stances in front of wooden dummies. Faith recognized that several of these creatures were called pandaren.

"That is the area we call Honeydew Village. If any of you are selected for the Monk Track, this is where you will be living." He walked there, knowing everybody would follow, "Each track is given a general living and training quarter, although, of course, students are free to roam as they wish after classes are over."

They couldn't help but notice that, while the area they were now in was still predominantly built along elven lines, there were a few elements of the pandaren that were present. Faith saw a golden gong, intricately covered in pandaren script. A mural depicted monks and pandaren spirits communing together. It was a peaceful area, and, on this first day, one where the smell of sweet ale prevailed over the flowers.

"I trust the ale you're drinking isn't too strong?" asked Rhonin to one of the students, a boy who couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"It's light ale, Sir," he said, a goofy smile on his face.

"Yes, I can see that." He snapped his fingers, and the mug of ale the boy had been holding vanished.

"Oh, but Sir! It's a party day!"

"It's a day where you need to get ready for classes, not drink yourself into oblivion, when it's not even legal."

Rhonin led them out of Honeydew Village and through the double front doors that led inside the castle. Faith noticed that the doors were of beautifully polished wood, carved with various runes representing the different languages spoken by all the races that went to the academy.

"Let all who seek knowledge enter here," she whispered, reading one of the inscriptions. She knew it was the academy's motto, and smiled, excited.

"This is the Grand Staircase," said Master Rhonin, indicating two sets of marble stairs that arched up to the floors above. One set of stairs, they noticed, led down to what appeared to be the basement, and that was where they headed. "Don't worry, you'll get used to climbing up and down these stairs. They lead to the classrooms and to other areas of the castle. These here lead to the lower levels. Follow me."

They started walking down, noticing that the temperature descended with them. Faith shivered, hugging herself. She wished she'd brought a cloak. The walls felt cold, although they were quite dry, and giving off a faint white glow. Torches at various intervals lit the passage with bright green fire.

All of a sudden, they reached a very large area, in the center of which lay what seemed to be a supply store on a high platform. The inscription above it stated that it was an apothecary that sold potion ingredients and herbs, amongst other things. Various ramps led there from the circular walkway they were standing on, also leading down to the lowest level, where a few students were talking quietly. An underground river ran by, its eerie sound bouncing off the walls. Despite the darkness, and the fact that there were no windows, a breeze ruffled their hair, bringing scents of incense and freshly cut herbs.

"Welcome to the Undercity. This is where the rogues and warlocks live."

"Look, darkling, it's your new home," sneered Arthas.

"One more outburst out of you, young man, and I'm sending you to the headmasters office. And believe me when I say that you don't want to start off the year that way." Rhonin glared at Arthas before going on, "Now, we've put rogues and warlocks here, not because we wanted to segregate them, but because their abilities are rooted in darkness, and I don't mean evil. Rogues work better in the dark, and warlocks manipulate shadows, amongst other things, and we felt that this was the best area for them. There is an area in Eversong Forest that's just as dark as this, where they can practice their abilities if they want to be outside. I'll show you that in a minute."

He showed them the apothecary shop, which was ran by an elderly orc warlock, who was also the dormitory supervisor.

"This is Drek'Thar. And just because he's blind, doesn't mean you can push him around. So any of you who end up living here, beware, and stay on his good side."

Faith smiled at him, and he turned towards her. He couldn't have seen her, but he smiled back at her and nodded, "Oh, I think she'll come to us, this one. She's got both Sun and Shadow within her, but I think that Shadow will win out."

She shivered. Her? Shadow?

People looked at her, and began to inch away from her. She looked at Sylvanas, who didn't move, but looked back at her, directly into her eyes. Once again, she felt her breath being stolen away by that look, and her mouth went dry. She wanted to touch her, to hold her and kiss her. Would she hate her if she were to become a warlock?

"Ah, no, you're all prejudiced against warlocks, I see," said the orc. "You shouldn't be. We're not all evil, I promise you that. If you had nobody controlling the darkness, it would overwhelm everything within. Everyone needs a bit of darkness to balance the light."

"Well said, my friend," said Rhonin. "Drek'Thar also teaches Shadowmancy to warlocks, so he says stuff like that all the time."

"It's the truth, Rhonin."

"Yeah, yeah." Rhonin smiled and reached out a hand towards the orc, who shook it warmly. The gesture made Faith smile again. "All right, everybody, this way." He led them through a series of twisting corridors in the Undercity until they reached a set of doors that led to a large walled courtyard, which was open to the forest.

Gnarled trees covered with fragrant moss grew there, leafless but looking majestic all the same. The underground river came out there, looking more like a brook now, but no less eerie than it had been inside. Its water was black, and, Faith found, very cold. They followed it to the edge of the forest.

"This part of Eversong Forest is called the Ghostlands," said Rhonin. "You won't find any ghosts here, and nothing too dangerous, except for wolves, and possibly giant spiders, so be careful when you venture there."

"I'm sorry, you said… giant spiders?" Faith didn't sound comfortable with the idea at all. Indeed, a lot of students, most of the girls, and even some of the boys, looked worried about this.

"Yes. We've tried to put many diverse creatures in Eversong Forest. You'll find gryphons, wolves, lynxes, spiders, bobcats, and even dragons, although I highly suggest that you retreat quickly if you see any. They're highly intelligent, as you know, and don't take kindly to being disturbed. They come here every once in a while, specifically for study purposes."

It was chilly in this part of Eversong Forest, not nearly as warm as it had been in the area we had walked through before.

"The Ghostlands, while technically a part of the forest, are separated from the rest of it by the moat that surrounds the castle. The Rangers, I know, will have some training here, but for the most part, they will be in the main forest, which is much warmer. Let's move on."

They went back inside the building, leaving Undercity below them as they began to climb the Grand Staircase to the second level of the castle, which was much brighter. A walkway led to an area outside that was bathed in light, and opened up into a courtyard that was the entrance to what turned out to be Light's Hope Cathedral.

It was a beautiful area, where the priests and paladins were living and studying. Groups of older students walked around in white robes or gleaming armor, looking almost regal. Most of them glanced at Sylvanas, and quickly walked past, not wanting to be in her presence at all.

"This is where _I'm_ going to be," said Arthas.

"It's lovely," said Faith. Next to her, Sylvanas nodded.

"The darkling thinks she's going to be in here," laughed the blonde girl.

"Fat chance of that. I've never seen a darkling priest before. It would be ridiculous."

They were speaking in a low enough voice so that Rhonin wouldn't hear them, but Faith stepped closer to Sylvanas, wanting to take her hand, but guessing that it would be unwelcome at this point. Sylvanas glanced at her, but didn't move away. Part of her felt grateful for this girl's support, although she couldn't figure out _why_ she was supporting her.

"Warriors also live on this floor." Rhonin nodded towards where they had come from, where they saw another path that led to training grounds. They saw an obstacle course and training dummies of all shapes and sizes.

They began walking again, climbing up another flight of stairs to a floor that was so obviously magical that it took everyone's breaths away. The very air seemed to shimmer with arcane energy, and the plants that grew here were so vibrant that they practically burst into bloom when Rhonin walked past them. Magical crystals hung in midair, giving off a faint and mystical glow.

"Oh, where are we?" gasped a gnome, whose bright pink hair was tied in two pigtails.

"This is Silvermoon, where I teach. Anybody who's inclined to be a mage will be staying here."

Faith looked around, breathing the place in. It was spectacular, with high vaulted ceilings that had been brightly colored with swirls of enchanted mist. She could almost hear singing coming from the very walls.

Students here wore robes of various shades of blue, almost all of them with a book in their hands, although classes hadn't started yet. One elven girl had a water elemental on her lap. It was small, and was floating on a plate, and as they watched, it dissolved into vapor, the bonds that had held it to the physical plane falling into the girl's hands.

"Silvermoon and Eversong are our two most popular areas, because so many of our students end up being mages or rangers, so they're our largest, except for the Undercity," said Rhonin. "A lot of students like to come here, so it's not unusual to see priests, paladins, or even warlocks up here from time to time, mostly because the library is on this floor."

He led them down a hallway that opened up into one of the largest rooms any of them had ever seen. Bookshelves covered the walls from floor to ceiling, and large windows let in plenty of natural light.

"Every section has its own library, which are very specific to an individual field of study. But this is the Silvermoon Library, which, as you can see, is our largest one. It's got various sections, which you should be able to find at a glance."

He was right. Faith caught a section of the library on the second floor that was a little darker than the rest, which most probably housed the books for the Warlock Track. Directly to her right was a section that was bathed in light, and next to that was a section swirling with the natural elements of fire, air, earth, and water: shaman.

"Everyone is welcome here every day, between eight o'clock in the morning and ten o'clock in the evening," said Rhonin. "I hope to see you all here often."

They moved on, heading outside again, but not venturing onto the grounds. Instead, they stayed on an outer balcony where they could see the vast expanse of the gardens and forests that surrounded the academy.

"The last three tracks work better outside, so they're all in areas of Eversong. The shaman, who work with the elements, will be right there, in Orgrimmar." He indicated an area that looked barren at first. But as their eyes got used to the light, they all saw that there were red cliffs over which poured a large waterfall. The area around the waterfall was green and lush with life – an oasis. Elementals roamed around freely. One could tell that Orgrimmar was a very peaceful place.

"The shaman live right at the side of the academy," he said, gesturing to a spot that wasn't very far from Honeydew Village.

"Aren't the elementals dangerous?" asked Arthas.

"Only if you anger them. The shaman learn how to respect the elements from their first lesson onwards. Some of them befriend an elemental for their entire lives. The ones who manage to do that are very lucky indeed." He turned towards the forest, "And now we get to Eversong, the area that has been set aside for rangers and druids. You saw parts of the forest when you arrived, and some areas of the Ghostlands. The main part of Eversong Forest lies before you. It's open to everyone, day or night, although I don't suggest being out there after midnight, because some of the nocturnal creatures that inhabit the forest can be nasty."

Faith stared at the expanse of green, yellow and red trees before her. It was beautiful, and her heart felt lighter just looking at the natural world. She had always loved nature, had always craved when her parents had taken her and her sister to the park. But she wasn't a ranger, she knew that for sure. She felt the magic inside her, and it didn't have anything to do with nature, unfortunately. But maybe she'd be able to have some of the courses as electives.

"Do any of you have any questions?"

Nobody answered. Faith's eyes strayed towards Sylvanas, and she saw a look of longing on her face as she gazed at the forest. Suddenly, she knew that her new friend would be a ranger, and probably a very good one, judging by her build.

"My sister is one of the teachers of the Ranger Track," she said quietly. "Alleria Windrunner."

Windrunner. Faith thought the name over, liking it. It flowed like water. Beautiful.

 _What's the matter with you? Stop thinking like that!_

"Do you think she's going to be happy to see you?"

"How do you know she's going to see me?"

"Because you're obviously going to be a ranger, aren't you?"

"You think I'm going to be a ranger?"

Faith nodded, "Of course I do. And you think so too, don't try to tell me differently."

Sylvanas didn't say anything, continuing to look at the forest, "It's almost like it's calling me."

"It _is_ calling you, and that's a great thing, Sylvanas."

They moved away from the balcony, following the others as Rhonin showed them the cafeteria, which was cavernous and filled with dozens of round tables and booths.

"You will always have a salad and fruit bar, along with a sandwich bar, and hot meals. There are specific meal times, but you will always be able to find food here." He gestured towards an area along the wall, "That is the after-hours snack bar." It was stocked with various fruits, cheeses, and nuts. "In addition, you have the drinks fountain over there."

They all took something to drink, while only several of them grabbed a snack or two. Faith, for her part, took some lemonade, finding it both sweet and tangy, a delicious combination.

Sylvanas sat by herself in one of the booths, and after a moment's consideration, Faith sat with her.

"You don't have to sit with me, you know. You didn't even have to on the bus."

"I wanted to," said Faith quietly. "Do you want me to leave?"

Sylvanas gave a minute shake of the head, but said nothing else. They could hear the chattering going on at every other table, where everyone was discussing the school and where they'd most like to live. People seemed to agree that the Undercity was the worst area of the school, and that the cathedral and Silvermoon were the prettiest places. Most of them believed that they would be going into one of those tracks, and were certain that Sylvanas would end up as a warlock.

"I wonder why people think that being a warlock is a failure."

"Because they're scared," answered Sylvanas in a low voice. She sipped at her water and put the goblet down. "Warlocks are known to be wielders of dark magic, but like that orc said down there, you need dark to balance the light."

"You accept warlocks?" asked Faith. She couldn't figure out why she was asking Sylvanas that question, or why she was so interested in her answer.

"Let's just say that I won't accept a warlock until I've given him or her a chance. I know what it's like for people to hate me on sight."

Faith looked at her, only able to imagine what it had been like for her when she had turned into a dark elf. "Your family?"

"I'm dead to them."

"I'm sorry."

Sylvanas shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I've been on my own since it happened. I was in the tower on the south side of my city. I don't think you would have seen it."

"They locked you in a tower? For six years?"

"I had a balcony all the way at the top that I was allowed to go on at night. I got food three times a day, and ran up and down the stairs for exercise."

"But what did you do for fun?"

"They had a library." She drained her goblet as Rhonin and the others began to get up, "I'm glad I'll never have to go back there again. At least here, I'm surrounded by people, even if they hate me."

"I don't hate you."

Sylvanas looked at Faith, their eyes meeting again. This time, they both looked away quickly, unable to withstand each other's gaze. Instead, Faith's eyes dropped to Sylvanas' left hand. On her long middle finger, she wore an intricate pewter ring that almost looked like a crown, with a dragon opal set in it.

"That's pretty," she said, nodding to it as she got to her feet.

Glancing down, Sylvanas nodded, "Thanks. I made it when I had nothing better to do."

"You _made_ that?"

"Yeah. There was a blacksmith in the tower. He was the one who brought me food. We talked every once in a while, but he wasn't one who liked company, so I watched him work a lot. Finally he just taught me his trade. I can make my own blades too."

"That's really good. If people knew…"

"But nobody _wants_ to know, except you. And I don't know why you want to."

"It's like I said on the bus, I like to form my own opinion of people, and not judge by what other people's perceptions."

The two of them didn't say anything else until the tour ended, with a look at the infirmary and the dormitory where they would all be spending their first night at the academy.

"Boys will sleep in this room, girls in the room to your left. You'll find that some of your classmates have already arrived, and I'd like for you to be courteous to them, and to _each other_. Dinner is at seven o'clock, and I expect you all to be there. You can get night clothes, as well as a change of clothes in the closet. I believe that all your sizes should be there. Again, welcome to the Academy of Azeroth. I hope that you will thoroughly enjoy your time here with us."


	3. Chapter 2 - Unexpected Expectations

Sylvanas opened her eyes the following day, feeling disoriented. Where was she? Not in the dark tower where she had spent such a long time on her own, no. A dormitory, that was where she was. She was at the Academy, and it was the day of the exam to see which track she and her classmates would be going towards.

On the bed next to hers was Faith, the only person at the school who had befriended her. Everyone else was put off by the fact that was a dark elf. Faith should have been as well, but for some reason, she had sat down next to her on the bus and hadn't really left her side. Sylvanas hadn't had a friend in a long time, and didn't really know how to react to her presence.

She was awake, Sylvanas saw, and nervous. Everyone else seemed to be asleep. The two of them were the only ones in that corner of the room.

"What are you worried about?" she asked her quietly. Her voice easily carried to Faith, but didn't wake anybody.

"That I'll fail somehow."

"You won't fail."

Faith looked at her, horribly afraid that she would disappoint her parents. She'd dreamt of shadows and dark elves all night, and of people telling her that she was better off dead than away from the Light. It would be bad to become a shadow priest. But her parents would accept her. But if the test showed that she had an aptitude as a warlock, as Drek'Thar seemed to think, she was afraid that they would never speak to her again. Would she be shunned? How would she pay for school?

"You won't fail," repeated Sylvanas.

But she couldn't help being scared. As the sun rose, she and Sylvanas got up before anybody else to take a shower and get ready for the day. They were the only ones in the shower room, and were both able to take their time under the hot spray of water.

They were the first ones at breakfast and sat together, barely eating anything. They saw some of the teachers there, and Faith noticed a young woman with fluid blond hair and sky blue eyes that could only have been Sylvanas' sister. She didn't look at her, nor did Sylvanas acknowledge her in any way, except for a contraction in the muscles of her face.

Faith didn't say anything. She didn't know what she would feel if she were in Sylvanas' situation. But it was obvious that Sylvanas was upset. After a few minutes, she left, and Faith was about to stand to follow her, but a harsh look kept her seated.

She didn't see her for an hour, just before they were due to report to the Grand Staircase for the exam. The dark elf still looked angry, but a little more composed, and didn't say anything when Faith went to stand next to her.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Sylvanas looked at her for a while, then nodded, "I'm fine."

By nine o'clock, everyone was assembled. Rhonin, Sylvanas' sister, Drek'Thar, and several other teachers were paying close attention to them. Faith took her time, looking at some creatures she'd never seen before. There were a few worgen, these humans who had been turned into wolves because of some horrible curse. There were also several night elves, who were descendants of the Sin'dorei. Smallest among the group were the gnomes, followed by a few goblins, their green skin making them almost look demonic.

"Settle down, everyone," said Headmaster Vol'jin. "Today, you take the test to see which track you be belonging to. It will be a test that will be both physical, and intellectual." He looked at everyone, "The first thing you all will do is step into this room to change into leggings and a tunic, because the first part of the test is physical."

Sylvanas' sister stepped forward, "We understand that some of you aren't physically inclined, so to speak. That's why we ask you to do as much as you can. For the first hour, you will run an obstacle course that we've set up for you. After that, we will have some target practice for you, with weapons such as knives, or arrows."

"In the afternoon," said Rhonin, stepping forward, "we will have the intellectual portion of the test, to test your magical abilities, if you have any. That won't be hard. You'll only have to go into a room, and the magic inside the room will report back to us immediately. It won't hurt, we promise."

"If you are magically inclined, we will test you further to see which abilities you have," added Vol'jin. "And if you do not, we will check other areas for you. If you be a warrior, for example, you will have a test in hand-to-hand combat skills."

Faith and Sylvanas glanced at each other. Sylvanas didn't appear to be worried, but Faith could feel her hands trembling. She clasped them together quickly in the hopes that nobody would notice.

"Any questions?"

Nobody said anything.

"If you have any questions during the test, feel free to come and see us," said Alleria.

She pulled out a list and began to call out names in groups of ten. The students who were called went into one of the rooms indicated to them – girls to the right, and boys to the left. They presumably exited through another door, because Faith didn't see them come back out.

She was called with the third group, and gave a small smile to Sylvanas as she made her way to the room on the right.

For a moment, she was alone in there, and quickly took the opportunity to look for leggings in her size. At a glance, the room looked just like any locker room, except that there were partitions behind which one could change. The clothes were all the same dark green color – leggings with a matching tunic, and a pair of tan running boots.

She changed, braiding her hair away from her head and tying it with a ribbon that was also provided for her.

Faith was the first one of her group out of the room, leaving by a side door marked 'exit'.

She found herself facing a tall and broad man, who smiled at her. "Well, if you're ready, you can follow the road that leads to the gates and towards the forest. There are signs that will point you in the right direction."

"Thank you!" she said, smiling and beginning to jog away from him. She had always enjoyed running, and was looking forward to the obstacle course, however difficult it might be. It didn't take her long to reach it. She noticed along the way that several people were watching her, taking notes. Teachers, most likely. She passed a few other students who were wearing the same clothes she had, but had elected to walk rather than run.

She ended up in a meadow called Mulgore, that would have normally consisted of tall grasses and a couple of sparse trees. But that day, the course dominated it, practically encompassing the entire meadow. She was in good shape, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to get through it all.

 _But you have to try_ , she said to herself.

The course began with a series of tires, which caused her no problem. It was followed by a steep bank that winded her considerably as she climbed up before running down, barely catching her balance as she reached the bottom. She ran twenty yards and found herself in front of a high rope course.

Never having been really good with heights, Faith nearly hesitated, but began to climb, telling herself that, if she fell, a magical barrier would catch her. She had no idea whether or not it was true, but it helped her get through it. She was slower than she would have liked, but it wasn't a race. She just wanted to finish.

Eventually, she did, feeling absolutely exhausted after a swim in a deep pool of cold black water. She could barely get out of the pool afterwards, but as soon as she did, someone came to her, wrapping a warm towel around her and murmuring a spell so that her clothes dried instantly.

She was handed some water, which she drank gratefully, and was told to walk back to the castle, where she could have a snack if she wished.

Her legs shook as she made her way back to the school, so much so that, several times, she had to sit down to catch her breath.

"You really forced yourself, didn't you?" asked someone.

Faith looked up, surprised to see Alleria looking down at her with a kind smile.

"I just really wanted to finish it," she replied, coughing into her cupped hand. She couldn't remember ever having pushed her body so hard.

"But you're definitely not a warrior or a paladin."

"I'm not a ranger either, I don't think."

"You'd definitely have the determination for it. Don't sell yourself short."

"I'll be surprised if I'm a ranger, to be honest, although it wouldn't bother me. But I think I'm more of a magic user."

Alleria's eyes widened, "Most people who know they're suited for magic don't even bother trying the course. They look at it and immediately turn away. It's impressive that you made it." She made a note in the notebook she was holding, "Do you need help getting back?"

Faith smiled, "I'm okay, thank you. I'm just not used to exerting myself like this." She got to her feet again, and Alleria patted her on the shoulder in encouragement.

By the time she reached the castle again, she felt a lot better, although she wasn't sure she'd be able to walk more. A lot of people were mingling around the cafeteria, not seeming nervous anymore. Some of them looked smug, and she caught Arthas leering at her as she sat down by herself in one of the booths, a glass of apple juice in her hand, along with a plate of cheese.

A few minutes later, Sylvanas joined her, looking so relaxed that, had it not been for the sweat glistening on her forehead, Faith would have wondered whether she'd even done the course.

"I saw you out there," she said, helping herself to some of the cheese on Faith's plate. "You looked determined."

"I'm sure I looked horribly slow."

"I thought you were more inclined towards magic, though? Why did you do the whole course?"

"Because I've always liked physical exercise. I guess it sounds weird to people when I say things like that."

"No, it doesn't sound weird. It just sounds unusual. I saw so many people walking back who hadn't even stepped onto the course. I was surprised to see you on it."

"I didn't even notice you were there."

"Well, I was behind you, and you were focused."

Faith rubbed her shoulder, "I'm going to be feeling this for a week."

"I think we all are. And now we have to do target practice."

They got up, finishing their food and drinks as the teachers walked into the cafeteria to tell them that it was time to proceed to the second part of the test.

"Again, if you don't feel inclined at all, you don't have to do anything, but it would be nice if you could try, at least." Faith noticed that Alleria's eyes lingered towards a few of the people casually sitting by the window, who looked like they didn't care at all.

Faith and Sylvanas were the first ones out the door, and heard Arthas snickering at them.

"Oh, he's just annoying," hissed Faith.

Sylvanas shrugged "Him and Jaina are alike in that respect."

"Jaina?"

"Jaina Proudmoore, the blonde girl. But you've no reason to care about what they think."

"No, I guess I shouldn't care. But they don't know us."

"That's why you shouldn't care."

But it was hard not to. She couldn't understand why her parents had been so adamant about her staying away from dark elves. Sylvanas wasn't bad. She hadn't known her long, but she felt drawn to her, it was something she couldn't help.

And she didn't know why people didn't try to know her before they began to judge her.

They followed Alleria until they reached a large open training area filled with wooden and steel dummies, along with various targets, some of which were obviously magical in nature. Faith stared. The area could have easily held the entire population of the school with space to spare. Various weapons, from spears to bows and arrows, were carefully arranged to the side.

"My God," she whispered. "It's huge."

Alleria nodded to her, "These are the Darnassus Training Grounds. They have to be huge because of the amount of movement we ask the rangers for. We wouldn't want them to get in anybody's way while they're training."

She gestured towards the weapons.

"Does anybody here know how to use any of these?"

"I do," said Sylvanas promptly. "But you already knew that."

"I can use a bow," said Faith, as several others said the same thing.

"Go on, Sylvanas," said Alleria, sounding like she was suffering. "Why don't you show us how you can shoot?"

Sylvanas looked at her sister and nodded, walking to where the bows were and picking one up, along with a quiver of arrows. She then placed herself in front of a target, forty yards away, and began to shoot.

Despite the fact that she was a Tal'dorei, Faith got the impression that her classmates were distinctly impressed with Sylvanas' skills. She hit her target in the center each and every time, once nearly splitting an arrow in half.

"Good. Who's next? What about you?" She pointed to a night elf, "What's your name?"

"Shandris Feathermoon," she said, sounding scared.

"Go on, then. Show us what you can do."

It went on for an hour. Sylvanas remained the best shooter out of everyone by far. When Faith's turn came, she was a little nervous, not knowing whether she'd be able to match the Tal'dorei's skill, but she grabbed a sleek black bow and some arrows, beginning to shoot at the target she'd been assigned to.

"That's really good, Faith," said Sylvanas when she was done, looking at the target. Only two of her shots hadn't hit the center of her target, instead hitting the target's arm, or leg. "Are you sure you don't want to be a ranger?"

"I don't really think that it's my calling. I think I could be a ranger, and I'd probably be okay at it, but magic is more my thing. I feel it."

"Too bad. Because you're one of the top five shooters, I think."

"Thanks," said Faith quietly, not knowing how to accept the praise coming from this girl.

They took a break for lunch. Nearly everyone had tried their hand at target practice, except for several people who were adamant about not needing to.

"I don't see why we have to do a stupid target practice test, if we know that we're going to be wielding magic, not bows and arrows," said Jaina as she sat down with a full tray of food. "I mean, come on, get real."

"You'll need to be able to hit your target whether you're using magic or an arrow, don't you think?" asked Faith, stopping by her table on her way to joining Sylvanas at one of the booths.

"Oh, I can hit a target just fine, look." She threw a cup of chocolate milk at Faith's face, hitting her directly. "See?"

Everyone began to laugh, pointing at her. Faith dropped her tray on the table, and ran out of the cafeteria, unable to stop herself hearing Jaina's parting comment, "That's what you get for hanging out with foul-blooded freaks like darklings!"

She went to the nearest bathroom, tears of humiliation pricking at her eyelids. Her throat felt constricted, but she did everything she could to keep herself composed as she ran some warm water in the sink and began to wipe the milk off herself.

The door to the bathroom opened a minute later, and Sylvanas walked in.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. It's just a little milk."

Sylvanas put some food on the counter, what looked like sandwiches, and took a cloth of her own, helping Faith clean up. "I told you that you shouldn't be hanging out with me. I'm used to people calling me a freak."

"You're not a freak. You were poisoned, that's all." Faith spoke in a harsher voice than she meant to. She was embarrassed by the fact that Sylvanas had witnessed this.

"If it makes you feel any better, the headmaster saw what happened, and is having words with Jaina about it. I don't think she's going to like it."

"Great. It's the second day of school and I've already gotten someone in trouble."

Sylvanas ran more warm water in the sink, "Here, I think you should just wash your hair. Or at least rinse it off."

Faith did so, finishing just as a woman came in. By the looks of her, she was a teacher, although she wasn't wearing robes, but a black and red leather outfit.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," said Faith, towel-drying her hair and braiding it again. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't think she was going to react the way she did."

"Sometimes, people have a hard time accepting others for who they are. You should never back away from your beliefs. But it doesn't do to run away from people the way you did."

"I didn't run away from them. I came in here to clean up, that's all."

"Good! Then you won't mind rejoining everyone in the cafeteria. You still have twenty minutes left for lunch."

Faith nodded, accepting the sandwich Sylvanas handed her and biting into it. It was good, but the pleasure of the food was lost on her. She didn't want to go back to the cafeteria. Didn't want to face the people who had laughed at her.

But Sylvanas was there. Faith couldn't figure out why it mattered so much to her, but she didn't want to look weak in front of the Tal'dorei. Sylvanas had probably endured much worse, and she was still there with her head held high, as though unafraid of what everyone else thought of her.

People began to laugh the moment they walked back into the cafeteria, but the headmaster, who was sitting on a raised section of the room with other teachers, stood up, and the laughter died down.

"Don't worry about them," said Sylvanas as they took their seats. "Where did you learn how to shoot?"

"My dad taught me. He used to date a ranger, before he met my mother, and learned how to use a bow and arrow for her. How about you?"

"Oh, my father's a ranger, like my grandparents. I've been using bows since I was five years old."

"Wow."

A bell rang through the cafeteria, shrill enough to make people wince.

"Five minutes until lunch is over, everyone," called out Alleria. "That means that you're going to be starting the second portion of the test, which nobody can skip. Let's go."

Faith quickly took the last bite out of her sandwich, and finished her water before getting up.

They gathered at the entrance again, where Vol'jin explained to them that they would be going to the first floor, one-by-one, to be tested for magical residue, as he called it.

Rhonin stepped forward, "It will be on a scale of one to ten. Anybody testing between one and three will be able to go into hand-to-hand combat training. People who test between four and five will have one additional test done to determine which abilities those are, and people testing above that range will remain there for another section of the test."

Once again, Alleria began to call people one by one. Evidently, this particular test was much faster, because she was calling out names rather fast. Faith was called before the first fifteen minutes had passed.

She slowly walked to the second floor, and was met by a tall man with a black goatee and pale hazel eyes. He had a crow on his shoulder, and seemed to have been cloaked in shadow. Faith immediately saw that this man was not one to be crossed. She nodded to him in respect and he smiled gently at her.

"Through that door, if you would," he said. His voice was calm, but held a hint of power.

Faith stepped through the door he had indicated, and waited. A current passed through her, making her gasp, more in surprise than pain. She felt electrified suddenly, as though lightning had struck her without hurting her, instead leaving its energy flowing through her.

She felt her fingers crackling with magic, unknown spells swirling in her mind. A foreign tongue seemed to speak to her, but she could hardly make out the words. Spasms shook her body, and anybody looking at her would have thought her to be in the throes of ecstasy.

A door opened directly in front of her, and she stepped towards it, emerging in a room where about seven other students were waiting.

"If you would like to change, you can do so behind those screens," came a voice.

They all jumped, but failed to see the person talking to them. They did, however, walk towards the high wooden screens that would hide them from view, and soon came out wearing robes. Faith quickly followed suit, picking black robes with green and purple embellishments, and putting them on quickly.

She sat down, the feeling she'd had in the room ebbing away slowly. From what she could tell, the other kids in there with her had felt the same thing, and looked thoroughly confused about it.

Gradually, the room began to fill. To Faith's intense displeasure, Jaina Proudmoore came in, looking very pleased with herself, and immediately went to change, coming back out wearing bright pink and white robes.

"She's really full of herself, isn't she?" asked a small voice near Faith's shoulder. Looking around, she saw a gnome there, with red and black hair and large gray eyes. "Hi. I'm Minnah."

"Um, hi Minnah. Yeah, she is."

"I'm sorry about what she did to you earlier. That was really unfair."

"I guess it was her way of getting attention, I don't know."

"Can I ask you something? I hope you won't think I'm rude or anything, but, why are you friends with that dark elf?"

"She's nice, from what I can tell," said Faith.

"Everyone's saying that you're the one who went to sit down next to her on the bus."

"Well, it would have been rude to sit by myself while she was sitting alone, you know? My parents warned me about dark elves, but I wanted to find out for myself."

The gnome nodded, "I understand."

"You do?"

"Sure. My uncle went through something similar when he became a warlock. Our family wouldn't talk to him for years, but I decided to get to know him, and he's really sweet. I mean, he does like to hang out with imps, which I guess is a little creepy, but other than that, he's okay."

Faith smiled a little, "That's good. My parents hate warlocks."

"A lot of people do. I can't say I'm that comfortable with them, come to that."

"Neither am I."

Several more people arrived, and after some time, the tall man Faith had seen walked in, followed by Rhonin, who was smiling at them.

"My name is Master Medivh," said the tall man. "I am one of the teachers in the Warlock Track. All of you here scored between five and ten, which means that you are definitely magical. How much magic you have within you is something that we need to see."

"I'm going to call out the names of the people who scored between five and seven," said Rhonin. "Those of you whose names aren't called, stay seated, please."

He began to read out names from a list he was holding, and Faith waited to see whether her name would be called, but it wasn't. Five minutes later, the warlock, Medivh, stood alone with them.

"All right. Those of you who are here will be going into one of three tracks. You will either be warlocks, priests, or mages. And yes, this means that warlocks have just as much magic inside them than mages do. Their magic is just different. Don't forget, mages and warlocks are linked by their magic, because they can do some of the same things."

He waved a hand and bits of parchment, as well as ink and quills, appeared in front of them.

"You have an hour to write down everything you know about magic, whether it be light or dark. Begin."

Surprised, Faith picked up her quill, and immediately began to write. What _did_ she know about magic? She'd read a lot about it at home, and recalled as much as she could as her hand fairly flew across the parchment in front of her.

By the time the hour was up, her hand was sore, because she'd written so fast about arcane magic, shadow magic, and even natural magic that was used by druids and shaman.

Medivh came by and picked up all of the essays, glancing down at a student's answer every once in a while. When he came by Faith's desk, he read through some of what she'd written quickly, and nodded, smiling again.

Her stomach contracted. This was the second warlock who seemed to show interest in her. Was that what her magic was? Drek'Thar had mentioned shadow, but was it possible that he hadn't been talking about her being a shadow priest, but a warlock?

The idea terrified her. What would her parents say? Would it change her? She wasn't any different now than she had been before leaving the house the previous day, except that she had befriended a dark elf, something she knew her parents would never forgive her for.

"Very good," he said. "From what I can see, all of you have a good knowledge of at least some forms of magic."

Rhonin came back into the room, three boxes hovering behind him. The boxes looked exactly the same, with intricate carvings of runes too complicated to understand.

"So. Are we ready for the final stage of the exam?"

Everyone nodded.

"All you will have to do is go back into that room, and place your hand on one of these boxes. There's one box for the three tracks of magic here, and there is no wrong answer. For the most part, your will find yourself drawn to a particular box. You might resist, and try to pick something else, but for the most part, you won't be able to do that."

"Why not?" asked someone, a young man Faith had heard called Anduin.

"Because you might end up hurt," said Medivh. "Your body will reject magic that's not meant for you. I suggest that you go with your gut. If you're scared, take some time to think about it, if you must, but there's no way for you to tell which box is which."

"The door to the main hall will open once you're done, and that will be it. You'll have the rest of the day to yourselves. The test results will be posted at seven o'clock, just before dinner." He disappeared through the door, coming back to them moments later. "Everything's ready," he said.

"All right. One at a time, go ahead," said Medivh. He didn't call out names, telling them instead to go in the order in which they were seated, so that Faith ended up being the last one called.

For a few minutes, she was alone with Rhonin and Medivh, both of whom looked at her.

"You know, no matter which track you end up getting, it will be the perfect one for you," said Rhonin. "There's no need to look so worried."

"My sister's a priest. I think my parents want me to follow in her footsteps."

"Ravenna, was it?" said Medivh. "I remember her. She was a priest indeed, but her specialty was more rooted in shadow than in the Light, although she fought like hell to keep that a secret from her peers."

Faith's head snapped up, "Ravenna's a shadow priest?" she cried. "She never told us this!"

"No, I don't suppose she would have. She felt ashamed of the shadow, although she also had the Light with her, so she was all right." Rhonin looked at her, "You already know what your track is going to be, don't you?"

"It seems that everyone does," she said quietly as the door opened. She stood up, "Thank you."

She took a deep breath, beginning to walk towards the room. It had been unremarkable at first, a simple classroom with off-white walls and a magical blackboard that had covered an entire section of the room.

But it had changed. Magic swirled around everywhere, of every type. Natural magic that seemed as fresh as springtime rain, the Light, which warmed her, and shadow, that seemed to chill her to the bone. The walls looked as though they had been fashioned from blocks of little stars. They were almost painful to look at.

Her eyes were instead drawn to one of the boxes, the one sitting on the far right. She went to it, playing her hand on it without hesitation.

It happened instantly.

Her body cooled quickly, and she shivered exquisitely, pulled towards a darkness that covered her like a blanket, not suffocating her, but welcoming her like a mother's embrace. Shadows swirled around her, sparkling with red and violet shafts of light, interwoven with green.

She felt herself convulsing, and was mildly surprised to realize that she'd had a powerful orgasm, her legs shaking so much that she collapsed, her hand never leaving the box. She could taste the magic within her. It was shadow, and it was flame. Strong. Ethereal. Hers.

The sensation ended as suddenly as it had begun. She got up slowly, the return to normalcy so sudden that she felt empty. What had happened? She now knew beyond the shadow of a doubt what track she belonged to, and part of her craved it.

But what did it mean?

She left the room, making her way back to the first floor. Students were milling there, looking at her curiously, but she didn't stop. She walked out the door, needing some fresh air.

What would she tell her family? Would Ravenna understand? She'd at least been able to hide her true self, telling everyone that the Light had chosen her. But Faith wouldn't be able to say the same thing.

Sylvanas found her by the edge of the moat as night began to fall.

"They're about to post the results," she said in a low voice.

"You go. I don't need to see them."

"I'm not sure any of us need to see them, judging by what that final test was like." She sat down next to her, "You're not going to be a mage, are you?"

Faith shook her head, saying nothing.

"You know, if there's one thing I've learned from my situation, it's that you can't change who you are, and it would be silly to try. Shadow magic is inside you, there's nothing you can do about it, except learn to master it."

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew. I'm a dark elf, I can sense other dark beings when they're near me."

"But I'm not –."

"You are. You have powerful dark magic inside you, Faith. But it doesn't make you evil. There's a difference between wielding dark magic, and being evil. You're not evil."

"Maybe you sense it, but nobody else will once the test results come out."

"It doesn't change who you are. It will just enhance it." Sylvanas stood up and took Faith's hand, pulling her to her feet as well. "Come on."

"You'll still… you'll still be my friend?"

"I don't know why, but you've decided to be my friend even though I'm a Tal'dorei. I'm not going to stop being your friend just because you're a warlock."

Faith didn't know what to say. A tear coursed down her cheek, but Sylvanas pretended not to see it as she led her back towards the school.

Everyone milled in the entrance hall, talking excitedly, although a few people looked really apprehensive about the results.

"What about you?" Faith asked Sylvanas. "Will you be a ranger?"

Sylvanas squeezed her fingers and nodded, smiling. "But I knew that even before I put my hand on that box."

The results went up, magically appearing on the wall. Kids surged forward to make sure that they'd correctly guessed their track, and some of them squealed excitedly.

"I knew it!" cried Jaina. "I knew I was going to be a mage!"

"And I'm a paladin, exactly as I'd suspected," said Arthas, hugging her so hard that he lifted her off the ground for a moment.

Faith and Sylvanas stepped forward. Faith first looked at the ranger track, seeing Sylvanas's name on the list. "Good job," she murmured, before her eyes flickered down to the warlock track. There were only six names there, and hers was right there.

Faith Everstone. Warlock.


	4. Chapter 3 - First Decisions

Warlock.

"I suppose it was bound to happen," came Jaina's voice. "Only a warlock could be friends with a darkling."

Several people laughed, and Faith forced herself to smile. She saw Minnah's name in the Warlock Track as well, and found her, still holding Sylvanas' hand, "Hi, Minnah!" she said, grinning, although it felt all wrong. "So, I guess we're trackmates, huh?"

"Yeah, we are!" She looked at Sylvanas. Apprehension flickered on her face just for a moment, but she smiled, "Hi! I'm Minnah!"

"Hello." Sylvanas introduced herself, "I guess I should let you guys do whatever it is you wanna do."

"Celebrate, of course!" said Faith. "We've got our tracks, we're _in_!"

"You should totally join us!" exclaimed Minnah. "Hang on, we should find the other warlocks."

Faith looked around, spotting an orc standing by herself, "I think that's Rega over there," she said.

"I think you're right!" Minnah bounced over to the orc, who just grunted, apparently not interested in talking. But Minnah grabbed her hand and attempted to drag her over to them, hanging off her arm. Rega just stared at her, as though the gnome was nothing more than a pesky fly.

Even Sylvanas began to laugh, and the orc looked at her, "Wait, you're not a warlock."

"No, I'm a ranger. And I'll let you all get to know each other. I'll go find my track."

She dropped Faith's hand and wove her way through the throng of students. Faith felt a strange feeling of loneliness coming over her as she watched Sylvanas leaving. But a goblin, who was a head taller than Minnah, came over to them, "Hi there! I'm Izzy Grimwheel, warlock extraordinaire! And this is Willy Fizzlebang."

"Wilfred, actually," said the gnome who accompanied her. "Pleased to meet you!"

Greetings were exchanged, until someone else stepped towards them. He was a worgen, larger than anything Faith had ever seen, and barely able to fit into his robes. "Hello," he said in a voice that Faith had only heard once in a nightmare. "My name is Dane Winslow. I'm happy to meet all of you."

"Wow," said Faith, "You're… hi. It's nice to meet you too." She blushed, "I'm sorry, I've never seen a Worgen up close before."

"It's okay. So… warlocks, eh?"

"I guess so," said Minnah. "Hey, come on! The cafeteria's open!"

They went inside, noticing that banners ad been put up, welcoming each of the new students to the various tracks.

There was a lot of food. Faith grabbed some turkey, mashed potatoes, boiled vegetables, and a lot of gravy, along with a slice of chocolate pie, before she joined her new trackmates at the table they had chosen. Everyone around them was laughing and talking happily, excited to begin classes.

Faith couldn't help but notice that her group still seemed a little apprehensive.

"None of you wanted this track, am I right?"

It was the question nobody had wanted to ask, but Faith felt that it had to be put out there. They had to be honest with each other.

"I guess it was a shock," said Rega. "I wanted to be a shaman, not a warlock."

Faith nodded, "And I was certain I'd be a mage."

"Shadow priest," said Dane. "Not that this is a big stretch."

"I don't mind being a warlock," said Minnah. "But I'm sure my parents will hate me for it."

"Welcome to the club," said Wilfred. "What about you, Izzy? Will your parents mind?"

"My mother's a warlock, so I think they'll be happy with this. I'm lucky."

"Yeah," said Rega. "You really are. "I don't think my parents will let me come home for a while."

"Mine won't either. They hate warlocks. They told me to stay away from them when I came here. Actually, they told me to stay away from dark elves too."

"How come you were hanging out with her, anyway?" asked Rega. "I'd be very uncomfortable, especially now that I'm a warlock."

"Why don't you get to know her a little? She's not that bad, really." Faith smiled and looked around, seeing that Sylvanas was sitting alone at the booth she'd shared with Faith before, while the rangers sat at the next table, which was completely crammed.

"Looks like the other rangers aren't interested in getting to know her," said Minnah. "That's too bad."

"Would you mind if she sat with us?" asked Faith.

"I don't know, Faith." Rega was looking uncomfortable.

"Are you afraid of what people will say?"

"No. They hate us anyway, because of what we are."

"And they hate her because she's a dark elf. And she didn't do anything." Faith quickly explained what had happened to her. "She was only eight years old, and her family just turned their backs on her."

"She shouldn't be sitting alone," agreed Dane. "The same thing happened to us when the Worgen Curse started to spread among us. We were segregated and everyone hated us. Some of us went completely insane because of it."

"But that's different."

"How? It wasn't our fault. We didn't ask for this to happen, and neither did she."

"But other darklings, the ones who turn because of their dark magic?"

"She was eight," said Faith. "How much dark magic do you think an eight-year-old knows? Besides, she's a ranger."

Rega still looked apprehensive, and Faith was about to just go sit down with Sylvanas, when she nodded. "Okay. I guess you're right."

"Thanks." Faith got up, quickly going to where Sylvanas was sitting.

"What?" she asked, hostility coloring her features.

"Come sit with us."

"I'm not a warlock."

"That doesn't matter. You shouldn't be sitting alone. Come on." Faith took her hand, but Sylvanas resisted.

"Really, it's fine, you don't have to feel sorry for me. I'm used to this."

"Maybe you are, but that doesn't mean you like it. Now come on."

"I'm fine alone."

"No, you're not."

"Yes I am."

"All right then." Faith sat down as close to Sylvanas as possible, without ending up on her lap, and motioned for her trackmates to join her. After a moment's hesitation, they did, Dane even carrying Faith's tray over.

It was a tight fit, because the booth normally only sat four people, but Dane sat at the end of the booth, grabbing an empty chair for himself while Minnah sat next to her. Rega, Izzy, and Wilfred sat across from them.

"I guess it's a good thing three of us are small," said Minnah.

Faith smiled, "We would have figured it out otherwise."

Sylvanas stayed tense for a while, not touching her food. But after about ten minutes, she slowly touched Faith's hand under the table once, twice. Faith looked at her, and saw her calming down and beginning to eat again. The hostility drained from her face, and she began to talk to the others.

Halfway through the meal, Headmaster Vol'jin stood up and looked at them all, "I hope you all be enjoying da food. Welcome again to all of you, and congratulations on being placed in a track." He gave a smile, which was probably meant to be reassuring, but instead emphasized the tusks in his mouth.

Several students laughed nervously.

"You should know that on Friday night, there will be a dance to officially welcome you to da Academy. This one be just for you, and da other dances that be official in da year, such as Hallow's End, Winter's Veil, and Noblegarden will be for da entire student body."

Most of the girls gave happy squeals at the prospect of a dance. Sylvanas, Faith noticed, wasn't saying anything, and in front of her, Rega was looking stonily ahead.

"Dances aren't your thing?" asked Faith.

"That's one way of looking at it," answered Sylvanas.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. You won't have to dance, you can just stand around with me, and we'll make fun of how horribly some people are dressed."

Rega started laughing, "Count me in for that."

"When you be done eating, one of da teachers from your track will take you to your living quarters," continued the headmaster. "And tomorrow, you will talk to them about your courses. All of you be having your track courses, but also up to three elective classes from other tracks, if you be wishing."

"That means I can take archery classes," said Faith quietly. Sylvanas glanced at her and smiled a little.

Vol'jin sat back down, and everyone began talking at once, newly excited about everything.

"You want to take archery?" Minnah asked her. "How come?"

"I always enjoyed shooting. I'd like to be able to do that again. It could always come in handy."

"It seems to me like we should take some arcane electives," said Dane. "You know, from the Mage Track."

"I think that will depend on each individual person," said Rega. "I'd like to see what courses I might be able to take from the Shaman Track."

"What about you, Sylvanas?"

The Tal'dorei shrugged, "I don't really know yet. I guess I'll see tomorrow."

Dinner was over by eight-thirty, and people all got up, uncertain of where to go.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Sylvanas. "Thanks for…" she waved a hand towards the booth.

"No problem. And next time, come sit with us." Faith spontaneously hugged her, and Sylvanas froze. Nobody had hugged her in a very long time, and it took her a few seconds to get used to the sensation of someone's arms around her again. "Good night!"

"Good night, Faith," she said in a low voice.

They separated. Faith felt weird about it. Was it normal for her not to want to leave her new friend? Was she that scared about everything?

"So, new warlocks!" exclaimed Medivh, seeming to materialize out of nowhere and making them all jump out of their skins. "How are you all feeling? Excited?"

"Excited to see where we'll go from here, yes, sir," said Faith.

"Good! Well, follow me."

He led them down the dark corridor that ended in the Undercity. "Will it always be that cold down there?" asked Minnah, shivering.

"Yes," he answered. "But the robes you'll be given have a spell on them to keep you from being cold, don't worry." He stopped walking when they reached the central area of the Undercity. "You've seen this area before, I think," he said. He gestured to the upper floor, "If you'll recall, these floors are for the rogues' classes. Their living quarters are in that upper tunnel. And you guys are down here."

He brought them down to the second level down, "Your classes, for the most part, will happen here. And your living quarters are right this way."

It was another tunnel, periodically lit by lanterns with green and orange light coming from them. Along the walls were small rounded windows which let in shafts of moonlight.

"How is that possible?" asked Minnah confused. "We're underground, aren't we?"

"No, we're not, but we are in the inner part of the castle, so we don't have any natural light. We therefore have illusionary windows to make the place less claustrophobic."

"Illusionary windows?" asked Faith.

"They're not real. But they look and feel real, and it keeps students from twisting into themselves down here."

"Pretty cool," she whispered.

"Then you may want to consider an elective in Illusion Studies. It's in the Mage Track, but plenty of people take it."

"I'll definitely think about it," she said. "It sounds like fun."

They stopped at a section of the tunnel that had two branches splitting off to their left and their right.

"All right, so, about your rooms. This is the smallest warlock class we've had in a while, so you all get to have your own rooms this year. Boys, you take the tunnel to the right, and ladies, take the tunnel to your left. All the rooms look exactly the same, so you don't need to fight over any of them."

Dane and Wilfred went down the first corridor, while Faith and the girls took the other one. Faith reached the first door and opened it, seeing a small, but comfortable room, with a wooden bed, a desk, chair, and a wooden wardrobe.

"You'll find that the clothes in your wardrobe will fit you," said Medivh. "The ones on the right, which are the black ones, are your uniform robes. The ones on the left are the robes that you'll be able to wear every day. As for the dance, we'll show you where to go tomorrow to get the dresses you might want."

A few minutes later, Faith was alone in her new room. It was smaller than her room at home, but she didn't mind that. It was obvious that there had been another bed there, probably recently, but she was happy to have her own room, as it meant having more privacy.

She went to the bathroom, which was just across from her room, and quickly washed up before she put on a nightgown and got under the covers. Moments later, she was asleep.

Upon waking up the next day, she smiled, but it was brief. The fact that she was a warlock, the exact thing her parents had warned her against, hit her like a ton of bricks. They had wanted her to write them as soon as she knew what her track was, and she was certain that nearly everybody else had done just that, but how could she?

Could she just write to them and tell them that she was now a warlock? Someone who would be studying shadow and flame instead of the arcane?

Getting up, she brushed her hair until it completely shone, then picked up one of the school robes that she had set aside the previous evening. It was black with red and violet accents, and the warlock crest etched over her right breast.

After applying some light makeup to her face, she finally left her room, going to the cafeteria, where several students were already assembled for breakfast. Nobody paid the slightest attention to her, so she grabbed a ham and cheese omelet, along with a couple of sausages, and went to sit at the booth that she was already coming to think of as hers.

When she was halfway through her breakfast, Sylvanas joined her with her own plate of food. She looked good in her new dark green outfit, which would blend in well with the forest she would be training in.

"Have you written to your parents yet?"

Faith shook her head, "I think I'll wait a little for that."

"You know that they're going to find out anyway, right? The school sends them the test results the day after, so they'll know by tonight."

"Great. So they'll start hating me right away."

"I'm sure they're not going to hate you. I mean, you're still the same person that you always were, right?"

I guess. But they really hate warlocks. I don't know what kind of encounters they've had with them, but they warned me about them before the transport came to get me."

"And they probably warned you about dark elves too, no doubt, and yet here you are."

"Something else that will count against me."

Sylvanas thoughtfully chewed on a piece of bacon, "Well, I hope they treat you better than my parents treated me. I'm sure they won't even care about my test results. At least yours will react somehow."

"I guess, yeah. I wonder if they'll ask me to switch to another track."

"I doubt the administration will let you do that. Do you really think they'll try?"

"You should have heard them a few days ago. They were discussing a warlock who had been in their class, who had gone really deep into dark magic, and had been unable to get herself out of it. She turned herself into a demon, and they had to send her away."

Sylvanas nodded, "I heard about her. You're not afraid of that happening to you, are you?"

"I never really considered anything like that."

"Well then you'll be fine. It's all in your attitude, isn't it?"

"I hope my parents can see it the same way."

They finished their breakfast and went to their respective areas, where they were going to be talking to their teachers regarding their schedules.

Faith made her way back to the Undercity, finding herself alone in front of Medivh, who was waiting for her. In a corner, she could see Minnah talking to Drek'Thar.

"All right, Faith, why don't you follow me to my office, please." He looked at her, "You're worried about your parents' reaction, aren't you?"

She bit her lip and nodded, "It scares me to know what they're going to think."

"I won't hide it from you, Faith. They're not happy."

"They already know?"

"We sent notes to everyone's families last night. Your parents wrote back immediately." He handed Faith a letter, which she took with trembling fingers.

 _Dear Faith,_

 _What have you done? We told you to be careful, and you become a warlock? How could you do that? You always wanted to be a mage, why would you do something to turn you into a warlock?_

 _You have the opportunity to do something else here, even before you can pick your classes. Change track and become a mage. It won't be that much of a difference if you focus on fire._

 _We expect you to tell us that you've changed your mind._

 _Love,_

 _Mom and Dad_

Faith read the letter twice, her eyes widening. Change? Be a mage? How could she do that? The warlock box had spoken to her so strongly. She felt as though she was where she belonged, even though it might mean a rift between her and her family.

Medivh was looking at her, "I'm leaving this up to you."

"I don't think I can change my track," she said in a low voice. "What I felt… wouldn't I have been attracted to another box?"

"You would have, yes," he told her. "But if you want to change, you can."

She shook her head, "It won't feel right, will it?"

"It may, or it may not. The decision is yours. Don't pay attention to what your family wants. Just think about what would feel better for you."

Faith thought for a minute., "I think I'm going to stay." She felt torn about her decision, knowing that it was better for her, even though her parents may not ever speak to her again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He gave a nod, "Good. I'm happy you're saying this. It might not be easy for you, because your family may not be behind you. But if you need anything, any kind of advice, know that you can always come to one of us."

"Thank you, Sir," she said.

He shuffled some papers around, "Now, for your classes. There are five mandatory classes, and three electives."

"Okay."

"The warlock mandatory classes are the following: Shadowmancy, Fel Studies, Pyromancy, Summoning, and Demonology." He waited for Faith to nod before he went on. "There was another area that you shone in, and that was ranger training."

Faith smiled, "That was a lot of fun."

"Good. Because we want to offer you a couple of classes if you'd like: archery and tracking. I think that these two classes will complement your personality."

"That sounds great, thank you!" she began to grin.

"And for your final class, you can pick something from any of the tracks out there. But I'd suggest going for something that you like." He handed her the class lists from every track, and Faith looked at them carefully.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to take anything from the warrior or paladin tracks, and that priest studies weren't for her at all.

"I think I might take Illusion Studies, from the Mage Track," she said.

"That's an smart choice," said Medivh. "It won't be an easy class, but you won't be the only non-mage taking it, I'm almost positive." He took out some sheets of parchment, along with various book lists, "You can read about each of these classes here and go get your books. Next to the bookstore, which is on the first floor, you'll see the dress shop, which is where you'll be able to get your dress for the dance."

"Thank you, Master Medivh," she said to him. "I… I'll write to my parents about my decision tonight."

"You do that. And don't be afraid to tell them exactly how you feel. Just because you're a warlock doesn't mean that you're going to try and take over the world."

She nodded, not saying anything else before she left the room. Medivh smiled a little. She had a lot of potential as an excellent spellcaster, and he couldn't wait to see what she was going to do while at the academy.

Faith went back to her room first, putting what she held down onto her bed and walking to her desk. There were some sheets of parchment there, along with a quill and some ink, so she immediately began to write her letter before she chickened out and changed her mind.

 _Dear Mom and Dad,_

 _I know that you both want what's best for me, and that you feel that the Mage Track would take me in a better direction. But I don't feel that's the case._

 _I've been having dreams about shadows and flames for some time now, and I think that you've both been worried about me because of it. You wouldn't have been talking so much about warlocks if you hadn't thought the same thing I had. You also wouldn't have been talking to me about being a mage so much._

 _You want me to be happy, right? I don't know where this is going to take me, but I do hope that I'll be happy with what I've chosen. I feel safe in my choice. I don't think that it's the wrong decision. But I did decide that one of my electives will be Illusion Studies, from the Mage Track. I'll also be taking Archery and Tracking with the rangers._

 _Please don't be angry with me because of my choice. I want to make you both proud, and although I know that this isn't what you wanted for me, I think that it's right._

 _I love you both._

 _Faith_

Would they write back to her with words of encouragement? Or would they never want her to come home? She tried not to think about it as she walked down to the postal office, which was located in the main hall next to the staircase.

She found several students there, happily chatting together as they waited for the chance to hand their letters to the attending worker, a tauren who seemed very friendly.

What would happen to her if her parents cut her off? She knew she would still be able to go to school, because education at the academy was free, thanks to donations from generous alumni. But what about pocket money? Would she be able to have any?

"Actually, you'll be fine," said Sylvanas to her later on as they ate their lunch outside in the sun. "They told me that each student who doesn't have family support gets a small allowance every month that they can spend however they want. We get one hundred silver coins each, which is actually pretty good for me. I've never had money before."

"I guess I could also take a weekend job around the school or something, if I need more money for something."

Sylvanas nodded, "Yeah, that's an option." She bit into an apple, "So, what electives are you taking?"

"Oh, um, Archery and Tracking, and Illusion Studies."

"Cool. I guess we'll have two classes together."

"We will?"

"I think so. Alleria's my advisor, which I can't figure out because she can barely look at me. Anyway, she told me that a lot of classes overlap because students like to branch out into other tracks sometimes."

Faith nodded, "Which electives are you taking, then?"

"Nature Studies with druids, Elemental Studies with shaman, and Poison Studies with the rogues."

"Nature Studies with druids, Elemental Studies with shaman, and Poison Studies with the rogues."

"That sounds pretty great," said Faith.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You're not looking forward to your classes?"

"To learning, yes. But I'm not really looking forward to everyone looking at me like I'm a freak. I'm sure I won't be able to participate in class or anything – the teachers won't call on me, and if we have to get in pairs for anything, well, there's nine of us, so you can guess who the odd one out is going to be."

She sounded resigned to her fate and spoke matter-of-factly, acting as though she didn't care.

"Tell you what," said Faith, "in Archery and Tracking, I'll be your partner every time. Would that be okay?"

Sylvanas looked at her, "Really? You'd do that?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. It'll be fun to show people that a warlock and a dark elf can do something other than become a couple of misfits."

"Thanks, Faith… that would be great." Sylvanas' eyes found hers for the briefest moment. Faith looked away first, unable to hold her gaze for more than a second. Her throat felt constricted, and she blushed.

They walked around for a bit, going as far as the edge of Eversong Forest. It was beautiful, ethereal, and the two girls were quiet, taking it all in, both aware of each other. Their hands touched once, and they jumped a little at the contact, glancing at each other almost guiltily.

Other students were beginning to arrive, seniors who looked like they owned the place, tall and confident, already wearing their respective robes. Priests who seemed to glow from within, and mages, with a trail of books following them.

"I wonder if we'll be like that in four years," said Sylvanas as a group of rangers walked by.

"I guess we'll have to wait and find out," answered Faith, looking down at the ring on Sylvanas' hand. She wanted to touch that ring, and the finger it was on. For a minute, she struggled with herself, nearly doing just that, and when she saw her hand twitch, her breath caught in her throat.

She swallowed, trying to look away.


	5. Chapter 4 - The Academic Year Begins

**Chapter Four: The Academic Year Begins**

The first week of classes had officially begun. Excitement in the cafeteria for the new students reached fever pitch the following morning before their classes were due to start. Even Sylvanas appeared to be a little excited as she ate her breakfast with gusto.

"Have you heard back from your parents yet?" she asked.

Faith shook her head, just pushing a bite of pancake around the syrup on her plate, "I don't think they'll write back to me. I wrote to Ravenna too, but I don't know if that'll do any good."

"Well, you can't worry about that now. You need to think about yourself and what's best for you. You haven't done anything wrong, have you? You can't help who you are, and if they can't accept you because you're a warlock, well…" she looked over at her sister, who was talking to Master Rhonin, "Then they don't deserve to call themselves your family."

Surprised by the intensity in Sylvanas' voice, Faith just looked at her for a moment, taking in her eyes – red with a darker center, both glowing softly. The Tal'dorei looked back at her, her head cocked to the side, and opened her mouth to say something else when Minnah placed her tray down onto the table and sat down, grumbling about how early it was.

"We're warlocks, doesn't that mean that we should be working at night?"

"That would be a way to isolate ourselves more from everyone else," said Faith, chewing her bit of pancake slowly.

"Anything to not be up at the crack of dawn," she muttered.

"Guess you're not a morning person then?" asked Sylvanas.

Minnah said nothing else, sleepily eating her breakfast as more and more people filed into the room, carrying trays and glasses of juice.

Twenty minutes later, the bell rang, and everyone sprang to their feet, eyes bright with curiosity.

The first week of classes was a whirlwind of activity. Most of the new students felt a sensation akin to whiplash as they rushed from class to class, trying to keep track of all the new homework and terminology they'd never heard of before. The teachers were demanding, and accepted absolutely no nonsense from anybody.

The Fel Studies teacher, Master Gul'dan, scared Faith thoroughly. A wizened orc, he had eyes that seemed to glow green with whatever magic he wielded, and wore robes with stiff spikes rising from the back of his neck, which made him look even more menacing.

"Make no mistake," he said in a low and dark voice. "This is not going to be an easy class to master. You will be working with evil energies, and they could take over you if you let them. So I will not allow you to try and skate by in this class. You _will_ be diligent about your work, or there will, literally, be hell to pay."

Faith had already read the first five chapters of the Fel Studies book, even though only the first two chapters had been assigned. She was going to dislike that class, she was sure of it, and so had already promised herself that she would be working twice as hard as everyone else to master the fel element.

Her Illusion Studies class was no less difficult, but Master Rhonin was kinder to the students, even to her. Master Medivh had been right when he had told her that several non-mages would be taking that class. Faith found herself with shaman, druids, and even priests. Minnah was also in the class with her, so the two of them sat together, pretending not to care about the fact that the other students refused to even look at them.

Chief among the people who hated her was Jaina Proudmoore. Her being a warlock was bad enough, but everyone knew that she was friends with Sylvanas, which was enough for her to be ostracized more than her trackmates. Jaina was ruthless, poking fun at her at every opportunity, and nearly reducing her to tears by the end of the first week when she stepped on her Shadowmancy book, ripping the cover off of it in the process.

Master Medivh was there, but didn't see exactly what happened. However, he suspected the bullying and told Faith to be careful, as he repaired her book with a wave of his hand.

"You can hold your own, but it might be best if you didn't wander the halls by yourself until all of this dies down and everyone settles into their routines."

"I can't really help it when I have to walk on my own to some of my classes," she said in a trembling voice.

"I understand. Don't pay too much attention to it, all right?"

"I'll try. Thank you, Master."

Her two Ranger Track classes, on the other hand, were quite enjoyable, and breaths of fresh air each time. Alleria was just as demanding as everyone else, but at least she was fair. Faith was the only spellcaster there, and therefore found herself at a slight disadvantage when classes began, but, true to her promise, she stayed close to Sylvanas, pairing up with her whenever it was required.

Sylvanas, it was obvious to everyone, was a superb archer. Her form was impeccable, the bow she held looking like an extension of her arm rather than a weapon she had simply picked up for practice.

"I didn't have much else to do in the tower, except tinker around with rings, and practice some archery," she told Faith as they had dinner together after the last bell had rung, signifying that it was the weekend. "I did that in the basement, which was pretty large."

"Every day?"

"Yeah, for about two or three hours."

"No wonder you're so good."

Sylvanas smiled a little, pleased with the compliment, "Don't sell yourself short. I mean, you're really good too."

"I'm not a natural, though."

"No, but you've worked hard to acquire the skills that you have. Be proud of that." She looked at the other rangers, suppressing a smile, "Besides, you can hit a target every time, which is more than anybody else in the class."

That was true. Most of the other students had never really handled a bow and arrow before, and couldn't quite shoot straight yet. But they had a lithe grace and agility that Faith envied. But she hoped she would get better with additional training. That was what she was there for, wasn't it?

"Stop worrying. You're doing fine." Sylvanas squeezed her shoulder once and slung her bow over her shoulder as they both walked to the lockers where they stored their weapons. Laughter came from the windows above them.

"Slumming it with the rangers," sneered someone. "Look at her playing with the toy bow and little _arrows_."

The girl standing next to her, the night elf Shandris, rolled her eyes, "It's funny, I always thought that paladins were supposed to be kind people." She raised her bow, nocking an arrow and aiming it at the window, "Do you want to see what a toy bow and its little arrow can do?"

"Honestly, it's not worth it," said Faith quickly.

"He's not just insulting you, he's insulting every ranger out here."

"What's going on here?" asked Alleria, striding over to them. She glanced up, "Don't you kids have anything better to do with your time? I could put you to work if you'd like."

Arthas and his friends disappeared, but they heard their laughter even then.

"Shandris, put your bow down. If I ever see you threaten any of your classmates again, you'll head straight for the headmaster's office, is that understood?"

"But they were –."

"I don't care what they were doing or saying. Be the better person here, and let it go. They're just words."

"They're _saying_ those words because we have a darkling here and because _she_ ," Shandris jerked her head in Faith's direction, "is a warlock."

Her cheeks burning, Faith simply left, quickly going to the shower room and exchanging her ranger training uniform for her warlock robes. She wasn't hungry, and so, skipping lunch, she made her way to the Summoning classroom, which was mercifully empty.

There was a letter from her sister in her bag, but she didn't bother pulling it out, having already read it. Ravenna was telling her that their parents were truly upset because of her choice, and that they couldn't write to her at that moment.

 _They'll be okay_ , the letter had said. _But I wonder why you decided to be a warlock instead of a mage._

"For the same reason you decided not to tell us that you're a shadow priest," she said aloud. She had written those words in the letter she had sent to her that morning.

 _I'm doing a really good job of alienating my family_ , she told herself, resting her head on her arms and closing her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to do by herself for the next four years. Would she manage? Where would she go after school? Would she even be able to go home for the holidays?

Home. It seemed like she had last seen her parents years ago. It made her feel sad, to think that she might never see them again.

"What are you doing in here by yourself?"

Faith jumped, not having heard Drek'Thar coming into the classroom. He carried a heavy black book in his hands and was looking at her with an expression that suggested he knew what she was feeling.

"I just didn't feel like eating anything."

"You know, you shouldn't let them get to you. It's not worth you being sad over."

"What am I supposed to do about my family, though?"

"If they don't come around, you'll be fine. You'll find that a number of students remain here over the holidays, although it's not really encouraged over the summer. But arrangements have been made in the past when families refused to see their children again because of the tracks they were in."

"Does that happen often?"

"Once every couple of years. It's unfortunate for the students, but we do have permanent staff at the school who stays over the holidays. There's even a small summer camp that's organized so that some kids can elect to stay with the others."

Faith gave a nod, "That doesn't seem so bad."

"It isn't. As for what you can do once you graduate, that's easy enough. Dalaran University will accept you as long as your grades are good."

"How will I pay for it?"

"You'll be able to work at the university to help defray some of the costs, but you can also take out loans, unless you're able to get a scholarship. I don't think that you have anything to worry about in those regards."

Faith looked down at the table, idly tracing patterns on it. Drek'Thar walked over to her.

"You seem like a very capable young lady to me," he said quietly. "Keep your chin up, okay? You'll find that a lot of time, members of your family aren't related to you by blood and race."

A nod.

The rest of the day passed quickly, and by the time she saw Sylvanas again for their Tracking course, she felt almost okay again.

"You're going to go to the dance tonight, right?" she asked her, her red eyes boring into her amber ones. "You shouldn't let anybody take away your fun."

"Yeah, I guess I'll be there." She had gotten herself a dress for the dance, a cute one with a white lace sleeveless bodice and a navy blue silken skirt that she would wear with navy blue flats, but she still didn't know whether she really wanted to go now.

"Oh, come on, we'll have fun, remember?"

Faith felt herself smiling, "Yeah, I remember."

After class, Sylvanas skipped to her room to grab her clothes, then went with Faith to the Undercity, where she actually seemed to be at home. The darkness suited her.

"It's easier for me to see in the dark," she confessed. "I've been spending some time in the Ghostlands."

Faith smiled, "You should have told me. I might have come with you."

"I wanted to spend time there alone at the beginning. But next time, I'll tell you so that we can go together."

They walked into her room, finding that nobody else was around the corridors. Sylvanas threw herself onto Faith's bed and let out a long sigh.

"We've survived our first week here. What do you think?"

"It wasn't a full week, though. Just part of a week, and we didn't even have five days of classes."

"All right then, it's our first weekend here." She grinned and turned to her side, looking at her, "Let's see your dress!"

Faith took it out of the closet and hung it on the door. Sylvanas glanced at it, her gaze critical. Finally, she nodded.

"Cute!" she exclaimed. "It'll look great on you! Wanna see mine?"

"Sure."

She pulled something out of her bag. It wasn't a dress, but a long black skirt and a matching black blouse with long bell sleeves and a high collar, "I might as well give people something to talk about," she said, winking.

They got dressed, and while they were putting on their makeup, Minnah came into the room, wearing a fire-red dress and exclaiming over the two of them.

"I forgot to get some eye shadow," she said. "Do you have any red one?"

"I got the rainbow shades," said Faith, pointing to the palette on her desk. "There should be some red in there somewhere."

"Thanks!"

Half an hour later, they found themselves in the cafeteria, which had been transformed into a pretty hall filled with sunset lighting and floating multicolored streamers.

True to what they had decided earlier that week, Faith and Sylvanas stayed in a group with the other warlocks, not really socializing with anybody else, but not going out of their way to isolate themselves. A couple of people came to talk to them, including a druid named Malfurion Stormrage, who seemed genuinely curious about Sylvanas. But for the most part, they were unbothered.

"See? It wasn't that bad," said Dane, giving a wolfish laugh as they left the cafeteria when the dance began to wind down.

"Maybe not for you," said Faith. "I could have done without the stares."

"It could have been a lot worse, though," conceded Sylvanas.

The first few weeks went by, with the weather turning slightly cooler, bringing rain and wind to the academy.

Faith found that, outside of her trackmates and Sylvanas, she had made a small circle of friends. She had tried to resist at first, feeling unhappy with the way most people were treating her, but some people refused to be ignored.

The druid Malfurion, for example, sat with them every day at breakfast. He was in Sylvanas' Nature Studies class, and while he wasn't generally fond of warlocks, he admitted that he had never met one before, and was open to getting to know Faith and the others. He had a twin brother, Illidan, who was his exact opposite in temperament.

He was already friends with Jaina and Arthas, but so far, hadn't said anything to Faith. In point of fact, he ignored her completely.

Another friend she had made was a girl named Aysa Cloudsinger, who was a pandaren. Faith had never seen a pandaren before coming to the academy, and was appalled to find them the cutest creatures in the world. But it didn't do to call them so to their faces, just like she would have never thought of calling a tauren a cow. Aysa, a monk, was soft spoken, and very sweet. Already, she noticed that one of the pandaren boys, Ji, seemed to like her.

Finally, there was one of the priests, the boy called Anduin, who was shy and didn't really enjoy socializing with a lot of people. They didn't have any classes together, but they had started talking one morning at breakfast while they'd been waiting in line to get some food. Both of them had felt the proverbial click, and had been friends ever since. He came to sit with her and Sylvanas sometimes, not seeming to care about the stares that they got from the others.

But despite the fact that her classes were going well – she'd distinguished herself as the top student in her core classes and in Illusion Studies – and the fact that she had friends, she still felt down, because her family hadn't shown signs of wanting to talk to her. She had written to them several times, telling them how everything was going, but not even Ravenna seemed interested.

So she tried to keep in mind what Drek'Thar had told her, about family not always being blood, and spent as much time with her friends as she could.

"They'll come around," said Aysa to her. They were waiting for Sylvanas' Nature Studies class to end so that they could go shopping for the Harvest Festival which would be happening the following day. "And even if they don't, you'll be okay. I'll ask my parents if they wouldn't mind having you over for the holidays, I'm sure they'll agree. I've already told them about you."

"I'm sure they were thrilled to know that you're friends with a warlock and a dark elf."

"Well, no Pandaren has ever been a warlock, it's true, and they've never seen a dark elf. But they're fairly open-minded to new experiences, and you and Sylvanas aren't bad."

Faith smiled a little.

Sylvanas came out of her class, making straight for Faith and Aysa when she saw the two of them.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Harvest Festival shopping. Come on."

"But I don't want to!" whined Sylvanas as Faith took her hand and began to drag her towards the shop. "Can't I just wear my regular outfit?"

"No, you can't. Come on, everyone will be wearing something different to class. It'll be fun!"

Sylvanas stared down at the way Faith's hand was holding hers. "Fine. But only because it's the fourth time you've asked me."

Faith grinned, nearly dragging her along. Next to them, Aysa was almost giggling. "You two are cute, you know that? Sylvanas is determined not to have fun, and you're just as determined that she get over it."

"Why shouldn't she have fun? I've heard teachers already calling her the best out of our year's Ranger Track."

"Not according to Alleria."

"Alleria's your sister. She's supposed to be a jerk about you. My sister's a bitch to me, you know."

Sylvanas nodded, "I hope that doesn't last."

Faith wanted to say something to her about being sure that she'd be able to deal with her family's rejection, being as Sylvanas had dealt with it for years. But she wasn't sure that would go over well, so she kept quiet on that point, merely looking at her briefly as they walked into the shop, which had been decorated in honor of the Harvest Festival.

Brightly colored leaves representing the turn of the season hung in the windows, and costumes of all shapes and sizes were displayed there. The costumes, courtesy of whatever magics permeated the shop, changed every hour, and could be tailored to an individual's wishes.

Faith had seen a costume that very morning, which was still there, that was supposed to represent an autumn tree. It was a long dress with silken tendrils done in fading colors, from red to yellow, and gentle wisps of green to signify the ending of summer and beginning of fall. "That's the dress I'd love to have," she said almost to herself.

"It's really pretty," said Sylvanas. "And it would go with your hair."

"How much is it?"

The dress was a little pricey. Faith's parents had given her money before she'd left the house, but she wanted to keep it for something else, maybe a dress to wear to the Winter's Veil Formal, because she had a feeling that they wouldn't be giving her anything else. They hadn't answered her last letter.

"Oh, go on," said Aysa. "It _is_ pretty."

Faith tried it on, and to her surprise, it fit her perfectly. The shopkeeper had a surprise for her, telling her that the dress would grow with her, so that it would never be too small.

"You'll be able to wear it for years that way."

"I like that idea. All right, I'll buy it. Why not?" She looked at the shopkeeper, who was a woman who ran the shop with her husband, "Would you have any job openings?"

"You'd like a job?" the woman sounded surprised.

"I don't think that my parents will be sending me any more pocket money because, well…" she put her hand over the warlock crest on her robes. "You understand."

The woman nodded, "I do. And actually, I do have a job opening. It doesn't pay a lot for students, but you get a discount at the store for yourself and just one friend. Let me see, you're fourteen, and I'm assuming you don't have any job experience."

"No, I don't, but I learn fast."

"Tell you what, I'll give you a trial run for a month and we'll see how you do. We had someone working here who graduated last year, so you have some big shoes to fill, but I hope you'll like it. And before you ask, she was a rogue, so magic wasn't her thing at all. Since you're a warlock, I think that you have a bit of magic in you. We'll see."

"And you don't mind that I'm a warlock?"

"Oh, no, dear. I know several warlocks, and none of them have tried to turn me into a succubus yet."

Faith smiled, "Okay. So, when would you like me to start?"

"Why don't you come in for an hour tomorrow at two o'clock, and we'll go over everything, and you can start next Saturday for a couple of hours. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, that sounds great, thank you!"

"All right, Faith, I'll see you later. Enjoy the Harvest Festival tomorrow."

"Thanks!"

Sylvanas categorically refused to buy a dress, but she did get some dark brown leather pants and a matching tunic that had leaves etched on them. Aysa, for her part, already had something to wear, so she didn't bother looking, so as not to be tempted.

"We're just going to drop this off in my room," said Sylvanas, "if you want to come with us."

"Oh, I actually… I have a study date with Ji."

"A date!" cried Faith. "You have a date!"

"Not that kind of date!" she said quickly. "I'm just… we're going to practice our meditation techniques together, that's all."

"Meditating together," said Sylvanas. "I don't know, that sounds like that kind of date to me."

"Yeah, Aysa. He likes you," Faith told her. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Likes me? We're friends, nothing else."

" _You_ might be friends," Faith smiled. "But I don't think that it's all he sees."

"But my mother won't allow me to have a boyfriend yet. She told me when the transport came."

"How would she know? It's not like anybody's going to tell her, right? Besides, if you like him and he likes you, you should spend time with him."

"But… I don't know if I can."

"Of course you can."

"What am I supposed to do?"

Faith began to laugh, "Honestly, I have no idea. I've never done this before." She shrugged, "But I guess you just get to know him, kind of like what you're doing with us."

"Start with what you're studying," said Sylvanas.

"We're just meditating."

"Well, once you're done meditating, talk to him about something that you're studying. You're both monks, you have a lot in common."

"But what if he's not interested?"

"Oh, don't worry," said Faith. "He's definitely interested. At least he's interested in getting to know you as more than just a classmate, so why don't you just start that way?"

They watched as Aysa walked over to where she would be meeting Ji, her paws shaking just a little bit when she left them. Once Aysa was out of sight, they both went to Sylvanas' room to put away the outfit the Tal'dorei had bought.

Faith had been in her room a couple of times already, and she liked it. The walls were made of warm brown wood, and the whole place smelled faintly of pine and honey. A small wardrobe stood in the corner of the room, between a dresser and a desk. The open window had a pretty view of the courtyard, and let in a cool and fragrant breeze.

Sylvanas set her bag down and began folding the clothes, putting them in the dresser. Faith glimpsed some of her other clothes, mostly leggings and tunics, along with the outfit she'd worn for the dance. Everything was innately her. Even the room looked like her, with a handmade bow that hung on the wall and bits of leather armor on the desk.

"The bow's new, isn't it?"

She glanced at it, "It's my first handmade bow," she said. "They want to train us in making bows, in case we're somewhere and we need to make one in a hurry. The chances of that are pretty low, but I guess you never know what could happen."

"Not bad."

"I guess," she seemed disinterested. "I can't really shoot it. If you look closely, you'll see that the edges are too brittle to hold the pressure. But I'll keep it there until I make a better one."

"You could keep all of the ones you make."

"What for?"

"To show your progress. Besides, it would be a nice decorating statement."

"That's one way of putting it."

"Have you ever thought of using magic to imbue the wood with spells?"

Sylvanas looked at her, "For the bows? No, we haven't even mentioned anything like that in class. The only thing Alleria mentioned was to maybe attach a scope to the bow, but I don't need that. What kind of magic would we use, do you think?"

"Protection spells, maybe."

"Could you do that as a warlock?"

"I don't think I could, unless I placed some shadow spells or something. But I wouldn't be able to do it, personally, not now anyway."

"You could practice with my dud bows, if you want. You can perform basic shadow spells now, can't you?"

Faith gave a nod. After over four weeks of classes, she could summon a small shadow bolt, which left a small cold burn on someone's skin that, if left untreated, remained painful for several days. She wasn't sure whether she'd be able to ever imbue an object with shadow magic, but she could ask Master Medivh about that.

She did so just when she saw him in the cafeteria during dinner. He seemed surprised at her request, but nodded. "Yes, it's definitely possible. But it's not something that warlocks do often. Mages tend to do that sort of thing more than we do. Mostly, we would put curses on objects, not protection spells. But a shadow curse could work well, in that whenever she would shoot something, the arrow would be imbued with shadow and inflict additional damage."

"How long would it take me to learn how to do something like that?" wondered Faith.

"Oh, some time, I think. At least a couple of years. I'll give you extra classes if you want to learn, but you should wait at least until next year before you give something like this a try."

"Sounds great!" she said, a little too enthusiastically. Sylvanas sniggered.

Master Medivh was smiling, "It's good to see that you're setting yourself a goal. Keep it up, Faith. Now, go get yourself some dinner."

Faith grinned and hooked her arm around Sylvanas', "This is going to be fun!"

"It will definitely be fun to see you try."

The next day, Faith put on her Harvest Festival dress, adding some autumnal makeup to her eyes and lips. She was glad to see that she could move in her dress, considering the fact that she had archery, although she supposed that she could change into her ranger outfit if she needed to.

The day was a fun one. Everyone, even the teachers, had gotten into the spirit of the Harvest Festival, dressing up and orienting their lessons around the heroes who had died for their world. That evening, they all gathered around an enormous magical bonfire, listening to the senior students giving speeches about their chosen heroes.

Faith and Sylvanas sat together with Aysa and Anduin, multicolored firelight flickering upon their faces and eating roasted apples. For the first time since both girls had arrived, they felt as though they were somewhere they belonged, with their own special kind of family.

* * *

 **AN** \- Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update this story, I know that a lot of you have been waiting for the next chapter! I hope that you enjoyed it! I really hope that it won't take me so long to update again. Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 5 - Tricky Shenanigans

**Chapter Five: Tricky Shenanigans**

The mages in the senior classes had begun to test their meteorological spells, which brought some interesting weather to the academy when the month of September slowly trickled into October. One day, there was a hail shower that covered the grounds in slippery stones, followed by a heat wave so intense that the outdoor classes had to be postponed because students kept fainting.

"I don't understand why the teachers don't control these spells," said Minnah one evening, as lightning crashed all around the school, illuminating the windows brightly, almost painfully.

"I think that it's because they want the students to figure it out for themselves," said Faith. "Master Rhonin says that when you perform any kind of spell, you should be able to release it."

"So they want them to take responsibility for their mistakes? That sounds silly to me."

"I don't know, it makes sense," said Sylvanas, glancing outside. "Otherwise, they'll always depend on other people to perform their spells."

Anduin joined them, his tray full of mashed potatoes and gravy. He squeezed in, causing Faith and Sylvanas to sit very closely together. Faith felt suddenly light-headed at the proximity, and put her fork down, taking a sip of water.

"Isn't this fun?" said Anduin, looking outside. "It's like they're getting ready for Hallow's End ahead of time."

"I don't know if it's ahead of time," said Malfurion, who was sitting with them. "I mean, we're already in October, and the Hallow's Dance is happening soon, with Trickster Week."

Minnah groaned. "Couldn't they have done away with that tradition? My parents told me about it, it's horrible."

"Oh, come on," Faith told her. "It's supposed to be fun."

"How can it be fun to have to spend all day perched on the highest roof of the school with no food or drink, holding up a huge banner? That's what my father's tricksters had him do during that week. Wearing only shorts."

Sylvanas snorted into her juice, "I have to say that I can't wait to see what they're going to try to pull on me."

"Maybe they won't pull anything because they're a little afraid of you?" suggested Faith, immediately wishing she hadn't because of the look Sylvanas shot her. "I mean, they wouldn't be if they got to know you."

"Save it. I know what you mean." She took a bite of food, "You think so, though? That they'll leave me alone?"

"Either that, or you'll get it worse than anyone," said Malfurion. "But don't worry, we'll be here for you if that happens."

"I'm sure we'll all have our fair share of stuff," said Dane, pulling a chair over and sitting at the end of the booth. "I'm sure the other worgen here will get me for being a warlock."

"It's all supposed to be fun. Nobody's gotten hurt in years."

Faith didn't really know what to think. Ravenna had told her once that Trickster Week was one of the funniest weeks she had spent at the Academy. Seniors running around playing tricks on freshmen and forcing them to do things, like sit in a tree inside a classroom during lessons or wear newspaper outfits. It did sound like fun but she could see that some of the students were worried.

Just as dinner was about to end, the headmaster stood up, commanding their attention.

"I know that you all be excited about the upcoming Trickster Week," he said, looking hard at the seniors, who all looked the picture of mischievous innocence. "But as I do every year, let me reiterate that anything dangerous will not be tolerated. Nor will forcing students to eat… something that is not food."

Several students giggled nervously.

"They try to do that?" asked someone in awe.

"If anything you do ends up in a student being sent to the healers, we be canceling the tradition, is that understood? And the responsible parties will find themselves in a lot of trouble."

Everyone nodded, and they were free to leave the cafeteria, chattering about various things they'd heard about the week leading up to Hallow's End.

"One of the freshmen grew a tail once, remember?" said one of the girls in front of Faith. "It took them weeks to reverse the spell."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Oh, this really does promises to be a lot of fun for us. If they don't do anything to us, at least we'll be able to watch the others struggle with whatever the seniors do to them."

It was incredible how slowly time passed when the entire student body was waiting for something. The kids who ran the _Academy Weekly_ , the school's newspaper, kept running between freshmen and seniors and asking them all sorts of questions leading up to the big week. At the store, Faith, who had settled in quickly there, kept seeing seniors buying dozens of things, from amulets to props, along with costumes that they would be wearing for the Hallow's End dance.

"Did you get your costume yet?" wondered Sylvanas, leaning on the counter and leafing through the costume catalogue while she waited for Faith to finish her shift.

"I did, yes." The discount had really helped, as had the extra money she'd been making at the store. She had been able to buy a wood nymph costume that she had really liked. It would be arriving three days before Hallow's End, after Trickster Week, to avoid any mishaps.

"What are you going to be?"

"You'll see at the dance."

"Oh, that's fair. Fine, I won't tell you what I'll be." Sylvanas stuck out her tongue, still looking through the catalogue.

Faith felt herself getting oddly warm at the sight of that tongue. She quickly looked away, towards a couple of teachers who walked in, going straight to the candy rack. They came to the counter, their arms laden with chocolate and other sweets.

"It's for Hallow's End," they said quickly when she raised an amused eyebrow at them.

"The students will love it," she told them, not believing for a second that the candy would make it to the following day, much less the week after that.

"Thanks, Faith," they said. "See you later."

"So, you know all the teachers now?" wondered Sylvanas as she watched them leave.

"Oh, Master Wrynn comes in here all the time to buy candy, it's how I know him."

"A teacher addicted to sugar? That's hilarious."

"I guess we all have our addictions."

Someone else came into the store. This time, it was Ji, the pandaren who had a crush on Aysa. He came to the counter, asking Faith whether they had any chocolate flowers.

"Chocolate flowers?" she repeated, glancing at Sylvanas. "I don't think so, but we do have flowers made out of candy." Stepping away from the counter, Faith went to the rack and found the flowers. A new arrival that week, they were made of dark brown and orange candy, shaped to resemble an iris flower. "Aysa will love it," she whispered to him.

Ji jumped, looking at her with wide brown eyes, "You think so?"

"Yes I do."

"I don't think she knows I like her…" he mumbled, taking the flower from her.

"Oh, she knows," said Sylvanas.

"She… she does?"

Sylvanas looked at him, "Sure. She doesn't really know what it means, but she wasn't unhappy when she found out."

A light was shining in Ji's eyes, "Do you think she likes me?"

"I don't know about that."

Faith took the flower from Ji again and went to ring it up, "I think that she's getting to know you right now. Give her time to get used to it and to form her own feelings. It will fall into place eventually." Saying these words hurt her – she remembered an instance where her mother had said these very words to Ravenna about a boy her sister had liked at the age of fifteen.

Ji paid for the flower and smiled as she placed it in a transparent box, "So I should take it slowly?"

"It's like when you get to know someone for the first time. You take it slowly there too, without rushing things."

"Just don't do what she did," Sylvanas nodded towards Faith, "and sit next to the crazy Tal'dorei nobody wants around."

"I want you around," said Faith.

Sylvanas looked at her, smirking, "Only because I buy stuff from here." But her cheeks were a slightly darker shade of blue-gray than usual.

"Well, thanks," said Ji, looking down. "Will she like it?"

"It's a flower made of candy. She will love it."

Grinning now, Ji thanked them again and left the store, humming a vaguely familiar song.

"They're going to be really cute together if they decide to have a go at it," said Faith to Sylvanas, who merely nodded, rubbing at her cheek.

Trickster Week began with every single freshman at the Academy being awoken by loud trumpets and having water dumped over their sleeping heads.

Faith screamed, bolting upright and looking at the alarm clock on the table. It wasn't even six in the morning yet.

"Rise and shine, Little Ones! It's time for us to properly welcome you into the academic fold! You have ten minutes to get to the cafeteria! Move it!"

Happy she had taken her shower the previous evening, Faith pulled her sopping hair in a ponytail and quickly got dressed, foregoing makeup entirely, as she figured, probably correctly, that the seniors would do their own thing to her that day.

And she was right. When she arrived in the cafeteria, along with other bleary-eyed freshmen, she was immediately taken aside by one of the seniors, who grinned down at her, "You're the Darkling's friend," she said to her. "So I think I'm going to have you dress as a succubus for the day."

"A _what_?" screeched Faith.

The senior wasn't kidding. Pushing her into another room, she had her strip, handing her leggings that mimicked a succubus' flaming leg patterns, and, much to her horror, knee-high cloven boots that looked exactly like their demonic feet. Over the leggings, she put on a one-piece corset made of black leather, with tattered leathery wings attached to the back and an actual tail coming from the bottom portion.

"Hang on, I'm not done," said the girl. "Here, put these on." She handed her some long patterned leather gloves, while instructing her to hold still as she did her makeup. She performed a spell, and Faith felt something happening to her hair. A moment later, the girl, whose name was Carinda, affixed something to her forehead. "There you go. Oh, you look lethal like this." She handed her a whip, "All done."

Apprehensively, Faith turned around.

She couldn't recognize herself. Her hair was a dark reddish purple, looking almost black. Curved horns seemed to grow out of her forehead, making her look menacing. Combined with the seductive makeup and the clothes, she really _did_ look like a succubus, those sexual demons that some warlocks summoned for purposes Faith didn't want to think about.

"Wow…" she whispered. "You should do this for a living, Carinda, it's really good."

Carinda nodded, "It's too bad your chest isn't more developed yet. The corset really would have brought it up, but it'll do."

There was only one problem. "I don't think I can walk with these boots." She felt like she was tottering on her tiptoes, in danger of losing her balance at any second.

"You'll get used to them. I wore a pair like this over the summer." She opened the door, "Out you go."

It really was hilarious. Some of the freshmen who hadn't been caught yet stared at her with eyes wide and jaws dropping open. Arthas blinked twice when he saw her, just as his own senior caught his arm and dragged him away. She ran into an unhappy Dane in the hallway, and both of them burst into laughter when they saw each other.

"Dane! What the heck happened to you?" she exclaimed. "Why, you're… your fur is _blue_! With gold streaks!"

"Not a word," he growled. "My senior had nothing better to do than this. But I have to say, you look positively evil like that."

"Thanks," she said, just as Sylvanas gloomily walked by in a crazy red and pink dress with so many frills and so much stiff lace that she managed to look like a birthday cake. Her hair, Faith saw, had been dyed bubble-gum pink.

"Sylvanas?"

The Tal'dorei froze, looking around. Her eyes widened, and Faith could swear that she saw her blush, "Wow, look at you…"

"And you!"

"Don't. I just want to go back to my room and not come out for the rest of the year." She felt mortified at the thought of looking the way she did. "I _hate_ pink."

"Because I love to have blue and gold fur," growled Dane.

"I'm feeling rather exposed, myself," added Faith.

"Oh, come on, Faith. You look awesome. They could have dressed you like a voidwalker or something. And look at me!"

Faith swayed a little in her boots, and Sylvanas caught her arm, "I'm already getting blisters in these," she said. "At least you're comfortable."

"Yeah, I'm going to be real comfortable in class. This damned thing is _heavy_!"

They separated to go to their first class of the day. Faith found herself needing to lean on Dane to navigate the stairs in her crazy boots, and her wings kept getting caught on everything.

They found Minnah in class, scowling at everyone. Her hair had been lengthened to be three times longer than her body, and had been turned into a veritable rainbow of colors. Her skin was fuchsia with black stripes, and she wore a sparkling green leotard and matching boots with spike heels.

"Oh my God…" whispered Faith. "What in the world have they _done_ to you?"

"If I knew more spells, I would _kill_ them for this!" She grabbed fistfuls of her Technicolor hair, "I don't even know what to do with all of this!" she cried.

"It's only for the day," said Faith. "I hope."

"And you should see Sylvanas, she looks worse than you."

"I dunno, I think the pink hair suits her," said Faith, managing to keep a straight face for only a second before she started to giggle. She sat down just as the others came in, all looking as ridiculous as they all did. Wilfred had been dressed up as a small voidwalker, having been entirely dyed blue from head to toe, and looked thoroughly disgruntled about it.

It wasn't really easy to focus in class that day. Faith couldn't get comfortable sitting down, but staying on her feet in those boots was impossible.

When she arrived in her archery class, she found that all of the students there had been dressed similarly, although Sylvanas was, by far, the worst of the lot. Shandris, for her part, was dressed as a wooly sheep, complete with cloven hooves and gloves that made it impossible for her to hold a bow.

"This is crazy," whispered Sylvanas to her. "I feel like I belong on a damned wedding cake."

Faith started to laugh, "I won't tell you what I feel like right now, except cold…" she shivered as a cool breeze brushed over her. "Look, we're all in the same boat. So you know what we should do?"

"What?" she asked morosely. "Run and hide?"

"No. Own it."

"Own it," repeated Sylvanas in a low voice. "You want me to _parade_ this?"

"Why not? I can only imagine what other classes have had to go through, especially if they added the rule about cancelling the tradition if someone got hurt." She looked around and stared. "Oh my goodness, look at that!"

Sylvanas followed her line of sight, smirking immediately. It was Jaina, and she seemed to be having a difficult time walking on heels that appeared even more precarious than Faith's felt. She wore a tiered tulle monstrosity that had once been white, but had been rolled through blackish mud. Her hair, which was streaked with black, had been done up in huge gelled spikes that towered above her. And in between the spikes had been woven what looked to be _real_ cobwebs.

As the girls watched, a couple of seniors, who were clearly warlocks, hurled handfuls of mud at her, "Warlock-hater!" they cried.

Jaina whirled around the face them, and was graced with a mud ball to the face.

"Oh, I was hoping she'd get her comeuppance," said Sylvanas. She appeared to be on the brink of laughter.

"That's going a little far though, don't you think?"

"She nearly pushed you down a flight of stairs last week. If Malfurion hadn't been there to catch you, you would have actually fallen!"

Jaina finally tripped and went sprawling, crying out as she hit the ground.

"Don't," said Sylvanas, putting a hand on Faith's shoulder. "You're too nice for your own good, and what has Jaina ever done for you?"

"Just because she's never been nice to me doesn't mean I should let them do that to her."

"Sure it does. Besides, look, they've stopped."

Sylvanas was right. The seniors seemed to think that Jaina had enough and walked by her, simply letting the mud dribble from their fingers and onto the back of her dress. Faith watched as she slowly got back to her feet and walked towards the school.

"Mud washes off," said Sylvanas. "The words she's used against the two of us? I can't wash that away."

Faith looked at her. Once again, and despite how appallingly ridiculous Sylvanas looked at that moment, she felt her heart beating an irregular rhythm in her chest. "I know," she said quietly, wishing she could take her friend's hand, but deciding against it.

By the end of the day, Faith felt exhausted. She'd been trying to untangle her emotions all afternoon. Feelings of guilt because of what Jaina had endured, and a heart-wrenching ache within her whenever she thought of Sylvanas and everything she had been through. She cared about her friend, it was as simple as that. She'd never had a best friend before, and she figured that was what the Tal'dorei was to her now.

She walked into the cafeteria and collapsed into the normal booth she shared with her friends, knowing that she wasn't able to return to her room because seniors were patrolling and forcing everyone to stay in public. Most of the freshmen were there, some in good spirits while others were really grumpy. Arthas was sitting with Jaina, trying to clean her face a little, but not making much headway because he was wearing Naga claws on his hands that he couldn't even move.

After a while, Faith stood up, went to grab some napkins and warm water, and brought them over to Jaina's table. Slowly, and deaf to whatever anybody around her was saying, she dipped the napkin in the water and cleaned Jaina's face herself.

"No matter how many times you've insulted me," she whispered, "I'm not like you. I give people a chance. And it would be nice if you could do the same thing." She gently scrubbed at a spot, but the mud had hardened on Jaina's face, "A hot shower will help you after dinner. Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"

Jaina shrugged, "What's it to you?"

"It looked like a pretty bad fall."

"Leave her alone," snarled Arthas.

Faith glared at him, "I was just trying to be nice, a concept that you seem to be having a hard time with." She put the napkin down and looked at Jaina, "Pull yourself together, it's just a bit of mud." When she turned to go back to her table, she saw that Sylvanas was sitting there along with Malfurion, whose clothes were stiff with neon yellow paint. He had yellow polka dots all over his skin as well, but didn't really seem to care. As a matter of fact, he wore them rather well.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" said Sylvanas to her as she took her seat again.

"I want people to stop thinking that they're jerks to us because we're not trying."

"We know why they're jerks, though."

Faith nodded, "Yes, and apparently so do some of the others. But we can rise above all of that, can't we?"

"You'll sing a different tune when they go back to bullying us."

Faith shrugged, "I probably will. But at least I'll know that I did my best. If they can't appreciate that, it's their problem."

"You're a bigger person than me. I'm having a lot of fun seeing them looking this miserable."

Faith said nothing else as seniors walked into the cafeteria, looking impressively tall.

"Welcome to the end of the first Trickster Day," they said. "Today, we dressed you up the way we wanted to. Tomorrow will be another day – be prepared to do whatever we tell you, or face some dire consequences."

"Nothing illegal!" cried Master Rhonin from where he was sitting at the teacher's table.

"Nothing illegal," amended Carinda, glancing at me and smirking. "We could decide to dress all of you up again, ask you to eat ten pounds of chocolate, or put live spiders in your bed."

Distinctively uneasy now, the freshmen all felt the tension rising. "Oh, I hope they don't do that to me," said one of the girls in an audible whisper.

The seniors heard her and began to smile.

"Oh, she's just asking for trouble there," said Rega, having joined them at the booth. She looked like herself, except that her eyes had been magicked to look as red as Sylvanas', and her skin had been dyed black. "I hope this stuff wears off soon. I wouldn't want to be stuck with this skin color longer than I needed to."

"I don't know, I kind of like my new hair color," said Faith, looking down at it.

"So, with that said, you may go take off your costumes now. We've put the clothes you wore this morning back in your rooms. See you tomorrow, bright and early in here. Most of you, anyway."

"Most of us? What does that mean?" wondered a priest nervously.

"It means we're in for a rough week, I think," replied Sylvanas.

She wasn't kidding. The rest of the week was difficult for some of the freshmen.

On that second day, Faith woke up when two seniors came into her room and blindfolded her, dragging her out of her room. She didn't resist, knowing it would be futile, but she did hear Minnah coming out of her room, and roughly being told to go back inside.

She felt herself being pushed along the corridors, and despite herself, was a little afraid, as well as excited about what they were planning on doing with her. Not a question did she ask, however, simply going with it, since that seemed like the easiest solution.

"Good, you're cooperating. It'll go much smoother for you if you do," said someone. It wasn't Carinda or anybody she'd spoken to before, but she knew the voice. It reminded her of a night elf boy she'd seen around the library a couple of times.

"Hang on, she's going to need shoes," said someone else, a girl.

"Yeah, I grabbed them. Here."

They slipped a pair of shoes on her feet. She winced, as the blisters on her feet were painful from the previous day's boots.

"You'll want to put some oil on that when you get back tonight."

"I'll make sure to do that," she replied quietly, while trying not to think of where they would hold her all day.

They put a hooded cloak on her, and began walking again. Cold morning air hit her, and she really began to be afraid now, because she felt snow on the ground.

"Are you sure we should do this? She could freeze," said the girl.

"Nah, she'll be fine, won't you, Faith?"

"If you think I'll be fine, then I'll be fine." She sounded a lot more confident than she felt, realizing now that they meant to keep her outside somewhere.

They walked a little more, and stopped about five minutes later. "Climb on."

Climb? Faith reached out, encountering the large warm mass of what appeared to be a nightsaber cat. Slowly, she got into the saddle, feeling someone getting on behind her. If they were using a saber cat, she could only imagine one place they were going to take her: the woods. Whether she would be in the Ghostlands or Eversong Woods would only depend on how long the ride actually took.

As it turned out, it took them twenty minutes to get to wherever they wanted to take her. During the ride, Faith felt herself growing colder and colder. Her guess was that they were going to drop her off in the Ghostlands. Her fear increased marginally at the thought of giant spiders, who sadly didn't hibernate, and so they would be out even in the cold.

She was gently pulled from the saddle and made to sit on the ground, against a tree. Ropes were tied tightly around her, binding her securely to the tree's trunk.

"Here, drink this," said the boy, putting a vial to her lips.

"What is it?" she wondered.

"Something to keep you from getting thirsty."

They really were intending to leave her in the woods all day. She drank the potion, which was as cold as ice, and immediately felt as though she'd had a glass of fresh water.

"She's shivering."

"Grab a blanket from the cat."

A moment later, the girl wrapped something around her. It was a scratchy wool blanket, but it helped. "We'll come and find you around lunch time," said the girl.

Lunch time. That was more than four hours away. Faith only nodded, and listened to them leave. She was alone, the sounds of the waking forest reaching her. Something moved behind her, then fell silent. She swallowed. With her arms tied behind her, she couldn't pull the blanket tighter around her, and when the wind began to rise, it fell sideways, uncovering part of herself.

She waited, growing increasingly colder.

Back at the school, the freshmen were gathering for breakfast. Sylvanas and the others were seated at their booth when Minnah came around, looking agitated, "A couple of seniors took Faith out of her room this morning. I saw them going outside."

"Outside?" cried Sylvanas. She looked out the window at the falling snow, "But they can't! She could freeze!"

"They wouldn't do anything to hurt her. You heard the teachers, they'll cancel the whole thing if anything bad happens."

"She didn't appear to be scared," said Minnah. "Maybe they talked to her in her room or something before they took her out."

Sylvanas wasn't convinced, but there was no time for her to ponder anything, as she had to go to class.

Faith wasn't the only absent one that day. Shandris was gone as well, and so were several others. The teachers, not appearing too concerned about this, didn't cover anything new in class, but rather reviewed what they had done so far. After all, they did have exams coming up in a few weeks.

But just before lunch, the snow began to fall much harder, the wind picking up as well. All outside classes were moved to take place indoors, and Sylvanas, thoroughly worried now, went to Alleria.

"Faith is out there," she told her sister.

Alleria glanced at her, "What do you mean?"

"Minnah said that seniors took her outside this morning."

"That doesn't mean she's out in this weather."

"But what if she is?"

"That would be impossible, Sylvanas. Get back to class."

"But –."

"Now!"

"You don't care, do you? Because she's a warlock, you don't care about whether or not anything happens to her!" Turning on her heel, Sylvanas left her sister there. Feeling more worried than before, she went down to the Undercity, looking for any teachers who might be able to help her. Bursting into a warlock classroom, she was relieved to find Faith's trackmates taking their Fel Studies class with Master Gul'dan.

"Minnah!" she cried. "Are you sure they took her outside?"

Minnah turned around, surprised, "Who, Faith? Yeah, I'm sure. They put shoes on her and a cloak. They didn't see me watching them – it pays to be this small sometimes."

"Did you see the seniors come back?"

"No, but they could have gone anywhere, or they could be with her."

Master Gul'dan had shuffled over to them, "You're worried that she's outside in this weather."

Sylvanas nodded. She couldn't say why she felt so worried, but she was almost sick with it.

"Who were the seniors?" Gul'dan asked Minnah.

"One of them was a Kaldorei. I think he was a warrior."

"Follow me. The rest of you, class is dismissed for now. Take an early lunch." He left the classroom, Minnah and Sylvanas right behind him. They walked all the way to where the senior warriors were training and laughing with each other. Jaina was there, wearing shackles on her feet, and serving them drinks with a sour look on her face.

"Which one of you took Faith Everstone out of her room this morning?"

"Aw, come on, Master Gul'dan. We didn't do anything wrong," said a girl with long black hair and sky blue eyes.

"She was there," said Minnah, pointing to her.

"Yeah, I was there. She's all right, we made sure to give her a potion so that she wouldn't get dehydrated, and she has a blanket with her."

Sylvanas had never fully appreciated how terrifying the orc was, despite what Faith had mentioned about him. But to see him cross the room and haul the girl to her feet was scary enough so that everyone stopped grinning. "And what about Faith being cold? Have you see the snowstorm outside?"

The girl went to the window, her eyes widening. "We didn't know!" she cried. "It wasn't that bad when we left her there!"

"Left het _where_?"

"In the Ghostlands. It's a twenty minute ride from the Undercity's exit."

"Idiot," he snarled. "Take me to her, right now."

The girl, quickly followed by a tall Kaldorei boy, led them to the first floor, where saber cats were waiting. "We were going to bring her lunch in an hour," said the boy.

"She might be dead in an hour."

The snow really was falling thickly. In the hopes that it was one of the meteorological spells gone wrong, the mages tried to stem the storm and bring some warmth back, along with the shaman, but evidently, they were dealing with the real elements, not a magical storm.

In the forest, Faith had gotten half-buried in snow when an owl had landed on the branches above her head and sent a small avalanche tumbling down on top of her. She'd considered beginning to scream for help when the bobcat had appeared, pulling the blindfold from her eyes.

A legend around school spoke of a snow-white bobcat with absolutely no markings on its fur or ears, and with dark red eyes, that had been roaming the woods for years after its parents had died. It generally appeared when students got lost in the woods, and left only when they were taken back to safety.

It was this creature that had arrived an hour previously, digging Faith out of the snow and resting its body over hers to give her additional warmth. Every once in a while, it nuzzled her face, as though wanting to reassure her. It had tried to gnaw the ropes that bound her to the tree, but they were stiff and frozen now.

Suddenly, it raised its head, making a sound in the back of its throat. Faith strained to see, but it wasn't easy to make anything out, for the forest was dark and the snow fell thickly. But she did hear something. Her name.

Five minutes later, they were there. Master Gul'dan jumped off his saber cat and, after glancing at the bobcat, cut the ropes that had kept Faith tied to the tree.

Sylvanas ran to her, "Faith! Are you… are you all right?" The two seniors were there too, looking stunned at seeing her that way. "Who's this?" she asked, her eyes on the bobcat.

"I don't know. He just found me and decided to hang out with me."

"His name is Ghost," said Gul'dan. "You're lucky he found you." He turned to the seniors, "You two, especially, should be glad that he found her. Leaving a fourteen-year-old girl tied to a tree in the forest in the middle of a snowstorm. Do you realize what could have happened?"

Faith slowly moved her arms, which were stiff and decidedly cold, but she was able to gently put her hands on the bobcat – Ghost – and rub his soft fur. "Thank you, Ghost." She looked up at Master Gul'dan, "It's okay, Master," she said. "They didn't mean any harm."

"We really didn't," said the boy. "Truthfully, we expected you to get loose and get back to the school."

"Kind of hard to wriggle away from a wet rope when you're blindfolded and cold," said Sylvanas, also running her hands over Ghost's fur. The bobcat looked at her, and, miraculously, nuzzled her, hopping off of Faith.

Master Gul'dan helped her to her feet, "We'll take you to the clinic so that you can warm up."

"Oh, I'm okay, really," she said. "I'm just a little hungry, that's all."

Sylvanas got up, feeling Ghost pressing herself against her legs. "Is he supposed to do that?"

"Normally he runs away as soon as people find the missing student, or if said student gets out of the woods alone." He led Faith to the nearest nightsaber and helped her climb on. Sylvanas took the next cat, surprised when Ghost hopped onto her lap.

"Looks like you made a friend," said Faith, yawning. "He's cute."

"And we have the same eyes. Maybe that's why he likes me."

They began their ride back to the school, the two seniors following behind them. They didn't say anything, but looked incredibly guilty.

"We're so sorry, Faith," said the night elf once they reached the building and had brought Faith to the clinic, where a healer immediately began to examine her. "We didn't mean for things to get that bad."

"It's okay, really," she told him. "These things happen."

"It was irresponsible of you two to take her out into that kind of weather!" said the healer furiously. "Did you want to kill her?"

"Please don't cancel Trickster Week because of this," said Faith to Master Gul'dan.

"That will depend on the headmaster. Let's go, you two." He left with the seniors, letting Faith remain with Sylvanas, who helped her get into a warm cotton nightgown.

"You may stay with her for a while if you'd like," said the healer. "I'll get you both some lunch. Faith, you stay in bed, and I'll see whether you're fit to leave the clinic this evening, okay?"

Faith nodded.

Sylvanas took a seat in a chair next to her bed, Ghost hopping onto her lap again, "How do you feel, really?"

"I really am okay, I promise. A bit tired, I suppose, and hungry!" She smiled, "You look worried."

"I was. Alleria didn't listen to me when I tried talking to her, so I went to Master Gul'dan instead."

"Thanks," said Faith in a low voice.

"You're the first real friend I've had in I don't know how long. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Faith reached out a hand to her, and after a moment's hesitation, Sylvanas took it, squeezing it. Her skin tingled at the contact, and when she looked at Faith, she saw a look cross her features. It was fleeting, but there. Faith shivered.

"You're cold. I knew it." She got to her feet and got a blanket from the next bed, wrapping it around Faith's shoulders. Ghost, in the meantime, decided to place himself on Faith's legs and go to sleep.

From what Faith understood later on, Headmaster Vol'jin wasn't happy at all with what had happened. He came to see her in the clinic, thanking Ghost quietly for helping her. The bobcat seemed to understand what he was saying, because he delicately sniffed at his hand before going over to curl up in in the crook of Faith's arm.

"You're not going to cancel Trickster Week, are you?"

"You nearly died. I was clear when I said that any tricks that involved clinical visits would result in the tradition being cancelled."

"But they couldn't have known that it would get this bad. They really did try to take every precaution with me."

The headmaster looked at her, "You do not want them to get into trouble."

Mostly, she didn't want to be the one causing trouble for the seniors, "They didn't mean to."

"Be that as it may, I have given Darnath and his friend Iliana detention until Friday, and they will not be allowed to participate in further activities this week, unless it involves being in class." He nodded to her, "But I be happy to see that you are generous."

" _Too_ generous," said Sylvanas.

"Look, they weren't mean when they took me from my room, they were actually reassuring. Oh, I'm not trying to argue their punishment, headmaster. I'm just saying that they're not bad people."

"They made a bad decision. Hopefully, this will teach them to think before they act."

Trickster Week wasn't cancelled, but everyone was a lot more careful now. Nothing worse happened than a bunch of spiders being dropped upon the mages during one of their classes, causing them to shriek so loudly that half the school heard them. Darnath and Iliana came to apologize to Faith after dinner at the end of the week. Their parents had been told of the incident, but Faith had written them a couple of quick notes, hoping to calm the waters a little.

"What are you trying to do, be an ambassador or something?" Sylvanas asked her, tossing her napkin to her when the seniors had gone back towards their group, looking morose. "First you try to be nice to Jaina, now this?"

Faith smiled, dipping her fingers in her water and flicking moisture at Sylvanas who recoiled, laughing.

"Stop that!"

"Nope! It's fun!" said Faith, doing it again.

"Faith!"

"My, my, look at the freshmen having fun just before we officially end Trickster Week," said Carinda, walking over to them with several other seniors in tow. She gently took Faith's hand and helped her stand. "We know that you had something to do with us being able to continue the week, so, we wanted to thank you, by having someone kiss you."

"Kiss me?" exclaimed Faith. "I don't need to be kissed, but thanks anyway." She was about to sit back down, but Carinda minimally tightened her grip on her arm. "Come on, I mean it, you guys."

"So do we! We know that there's someone here who went looking for you, because she was worried about you, and it's just obvious to us that she should be the one to give you that kiss."

Faith stared at Carinda as the seniors smirked. The other kids in the cafeteria looked nervous, and Sylvanas had frozen in her seat.

"Come on, Dark – Sylvanas. You'll thank us later."

Two seniors forced her to stand. "You've got to be joking," she said. "I'm not kissing her."

"Yeah, this isn't right, you guys," added Faith. She glanced around for teachers, but somehow, there were none of them around at that moment.

"Kiss!" demanded Carinda. "And we can end Trickster Week in a blaze of glory, and get ready for Hallow's End."

Faith felt herself growing pale and shaky. "Is it necessary?"

"Of course it is! Look, kissing a girl is no big thing." Carinda leaned towards one of the senior girls, kissing her mouth softly. "See? No big deal."

"I think Faith just doesn't want a darkling to kiss her," said Arthas loudly from the other side of the room. "And why would she? Gross!" he made a face and pretended to vomit while his friends laughed.

Sylvanas looked down, taking a deep breath. Was that it? Faith didn't want to kiss her because she was a Tal'dorei? Did she…

Faith took a step towards her, tilting her face up to hers. Their lips met.


	7. Chapter 6: What is Written

Soft lips. Cool on one side, warm on the other.

 _I kissed her, I really kissed her_.

Faith had taken her seat next to Sylvanas again after they had both pulled away from each other, and they had kept on eating their dinner as though nothing had happened. But her senses had caught fire. The kiss had been so brief that part of her hadn't even felt it. But the idea of having kissed her…

 _I kissed her_.

She was back in her room now, running her fingers over her lips. She couldn't believe she had done it. Her eyes filled with tears.

"That's not the way I wanted to kiss you…" she whispered into the dark, holding her pillow. She knew it was true. She _had_ wanted to kiss Sylvanas, from the moment she had first laid eyes on her, but their first kiss shouldn't have been like that. It shouldn't have been in front of the entire school, and certainly not because of something like Trickster Week.

She didn't go down to breakfast the following day, not feeling hungry at all, and not wanting to risk running into Sylvanas. She wished she could write to her parents about how she felt, but they still hadn't written back to her since her decision to remain in the Warlock Track, so how could she tell them that she had a crush on a girl? And not just any girl? But a Tal'dorei?

There was a gentle knock at her door. By the way her heart began to race, she immediately knew who it was, and considered not answering. But she couldn't do that, so she opened the door slightly, and going back to her bed, collapsing on it.

Sylvanas walked in, already dressed, which wasn't surprising, considering the fact that it was ten o'clock. "Hey," she said slowly. She seemed shy. "You weren't at breakfast, are you okay?" She closed the door behind her, plunging the room into darkness.

She nodded, knowing Sylvanas could see her. For her part, all she could see was the red glow of her eyes. "Where's Ghost?"

"In the woods somewhere." Sylvanas sat next to her on the bed. Faith felt the gentle chill emanating from her, wanting to touch her. "Is it because of yesterday?"

"What?"

"You're in here by yourself instead of coming with me to pick up our costumes for the dance."

"Oh…. I'm sorry, I was just sleepy."

"So it wasn't weird?"

"Kissing you in front of fifty people? No, it wasn't weird at all."

"You don't want to be my friend anymore, do you?" she asked, sounding really sad about it. "It's okay, I understand." She started to get up, but Faith caught her hand.

"Sylvanas. Where did you get the idea that I didn't want to be your friend anymore?" She turned on her bedside lamp, squinting a little in the light, even though it was dim. "You're the only one who bothered looking for me. You went to Alleria and to Gul'dan to make sure that someone would come and find me before it was too late. Nobody else did that."

Sylvanas looked at a spot behind Faith's left ear, but didn't say anything.

"You're my best friend."

Red eyes found her amber ones, "Your best friend," she repeated.

"I've never had a best friend before," said Faith.

"So the kiss wasn't weird? It didn't make you want to run?"

"No, Sylvanas, it didn't." Faith swallowed, "Was it weird for you?"

"A little," she admitted. "I've never been kissed before."

"I haven't either."

"Really?" Sylvanas sounded surprised, "But you're… you're alive."

"So are you."

"Yeah, but I mean, you look alive. You're pretty."

Faith blushed a little, "You're pretty too, you know. Don't sell yourself short."

"I'm not selling myself short. I'm telling the truth. My skin looks dead, my eyes are red, I smell weird, no matter how many showers I take or how much deodorant I use, I –."

Faith put a finger to her lips, "You are beautiful. Your eyes are unique, and your skin color is exotic. You're cool to the touch, and some people appreciate that. You have a mean streak in you, I'll grant you that, and I can't blame you for it, but you've accepted me as your friend. And I like you a lot, Sylvanas. So please don't put yourself down in front of me."

Sylvanas didn't know what to say. Faith's kiss had confused her a lot, but she'd actually enjoyed it, until she'd seen the stricken look on her friend's face. She'd been afraid that Faith would shun her now, that the seniors' last trick had had the effect of robbing her of one of the few people she cared about now.

And even though Faith was obviously making an effort, Sylvanas sensed that there was something different now. Maybe they would never have the same kind of relationship again. She cleared her throat.

"So, will you come with me to pick up our costumes?" she asked, trying to return everything to normal.

"Sure. Just let me get dressed."

Faith was very conscious of Sylvanas standing by the windows as she quickly threw on some navy blue robes, tying a white sash around her waist and completing the outfit with flat blue boots. But Sylvanas kept her eyes averted, doing everything she could not to look at her. Her mind was firing hundreds of questions at her. Had Faith waned to kiss her? Had she done it because she cared about her or because the seniors had been badgering them? Did she really feel okay with what had happened, or had she lied?

Sylvanas suspected that Faith had lied to her. But maybe she had done that because she wanted to preserve their friendship as much as she did.

Still thinking about it, she followed Faith out the door, feeling uneasy now. Did Faith want to be around her anymore? Was she forcing herself?

"You're being quiet," said Faith as they walked out into the cold air.

"It's nothing."

Faith stopped walking and turned to face her, "But it is something. You're saying that nothing's weird, but you won't even…"

"You didn't come to breakfast, okay? I thought I was losing my best friend because of a stupid kiss, and I didn't like it."

Stupid kiss. Faith let herself feel that blow, "Look, we should just pretend it didn't happen, okay? I don't want anything to change between us." She looked down and saw snow there, so she bent over and picked some up.

"I can see you coming from a mile away, Everstone. You put that snow down," said Sylvanas. "Not on me, don't you dare!" She shrieked as Faith's snowball hit her directly in the face.

Faith giggled. It was forced, and both the girls felt it, but it was better than nothing.

The store was full of students, making Faith happy about the fact that she wasn't expected to work again until after Hallow's End. She and Sylvanas waited in silence for over twenty minutes before they were able to pick up their costumes, both of which looked elaborate from what she could see.

"Wanna try them on and see what they're like?" Faith asked Sylvanas.

"No, it's okay. I think I'll go put this away and do some homework."

"Oh… I'll see you later, then."

"See you."

Feeling a little abandoned, Faith went back to her room, putting the costume in her closet and deciding to also done some homework. She was up to date on most of her work, except maybe Fel Studies, so she started reading the chapter that had been assigned for the following week. She shivered and went to the closet to grab a blanket, which she threw over herself.

Had it always been this cold in her room?

She changed robes, putting on some that were made of dark gray wool, and were much warmer. But even then, she still felt cold. What was going on? A few minutes later, she hadn't really warmed up at all, and so, she put her books in her bag, grabbed a heavy wrap, and went to the cafeteria.

Her normal booth was empty, and she curled up there, leaning against the wall in the spot Sylvanas usually occupied, beginning to read. She stayed there for over an hour, making good progress with her work. By the time lunch came around and kids started filing in, she had started working on Illusion Studies, and actually managed to make a small illusion appear on a blank sheet of parchment: the vague shape of a water elemental.

"Have you been working here?" asked Anduin, coming over and sitting down in front of her with a food-laden tray.

"Yeah, it was cold in my room."

"You live in Undercity, isn't it always cold there?"

"I guess I hadn't realized that until now."

He nodded, "They have soup if you want some," he told her.

Soup sounded good, so she got in line, shivering as she stood there. She took a large bowl of hearty vegetable soup and went back to her table, seeing that Sylvanas had arrived with Malfurion. Sylvanas made way for her to sit, but didn't say a word to her during the entire meal.

"Are you two okay?" wondered Anduin, looking at them.

"Sure," said Sylvanas. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"You're not talking to each other. Normally, you both seem so close that it's hard to get into the conversation at all. Did you have a fight?"

"I don't know." Faith looked at Sylvanas, "Did we?"

"Well, if you can't figure it out, how am I supposed to?"

"I guess that means you two _are_ fighting," said Malfurion.

"No, we're not. At least, I'm not fighting with you," said Faith, turning to Sylvanas. She leaned close to her, "You said you were okay."

"I am. I'm better than okay."

But it was evident in the next couple of days that Sylvanas was _not_ okay. The day of the Hallow's End dance arrived, and what should have been a fun day ended up being particularly stressful for both the girls.

Sylvanas felt emotional in a way she'd never felt before. She couldn't focus in class, completely unable to shoot straight in archery, especially since Faith was standing next to her, as unfocused as she was.

"Honestly, what's the matter with you two?" cried Alleria after half an hour had passed with neither of them able to hit their targets. "If that's the way you're going to act in my class, you can go cool off and come back in ten minutes, now go."

They knew better than to argue, setting off in different directions. Faith sat against the wall, wrapping her arms around her legs and shivering. She had been cold more often than not, and wondered whether it was due to the fact that she and Sylvanas weren't talking.

Sylvanas, for her part, went to the woods, and was joined almost immediately by Ghost, who came to nuzzle her. He turned his head left and right, seemingly looking for someone.

"Faith isn't around," she said quietly. "I don't really think she'll ever be around again." She knelt in front of the bobcat. "What happened? She was my best friend, and then the seniors forced us to kiss and… she didn't want to kiss me, I could see that, but she did it anyway. And now I don't know what to think." A tear slipped down her cheek. She hadn't really cried in so long that the feeling felt foreign to her.

Ghost came closer to her, touching his nose to her tear before delicately taking the material of her leggings into his mouth and pulling. Since she didn't want her pants ripped, she followed him, resisting only when she saw who he was leading her to.

"Stop it, Ghost, I'm not going to –."

He growled, showing her his teeth

"Don't you look at me like that!"

But he didn't stop, actually going as far as to nearly bite her until she kept moving. He only stopped when she'd taken a seat next to Faith, although he nudged Faith so that she'd scoot closer to the Tal'dorei.

"What's he doing?"

"He's the one who saved your life, shouldn't you know?"

Faith shrugged. Ghost climbed onto her legs, laying across both her and Sylvanas and closing his eyes.

Them sitting together didn't help them communicate any. They were both tense, and after a while, they were forced to get up and head back to class. Ghost didn't follow them, instead going back to the woods. Sylvanas watched him go, wondering what he had been trying to do.

That night, as she got dressed, she felt herself not wanting to go to the dance. She'd looked forward to it when she'd bought the costume, but now, it didn't seem important anymore. She sighed as she forced herself to leave her room, adjusting the pirate captain's hat on her head. It was a magnificent costume, the one she had picked, with suede black leggings and a matching long coat with gold buttons and embroidery and a frilly blouse. She completed her outfit with shiny black turnover boots that just barely skimmed her knees.

She wondered what Faith would think about it. If Faith would even show up.

The cafeteria looked amazing. The walls had been painted black for the occasion and adorned with cobwebs, with jack-o-lanterns hovering in midair, just out of reach. It smelled of apples and cinnamon, which made Sylvanas think more of Winter's Veil than Hallow's End, not that she minded.

She liked the dark atmosphere, and took a seat at her usual booth, being as the booths were the only things in the cafeteria that hadn't been removed.

Almost instantly, a pretty wood nymph came to sit next to her. The faint candlelight illuminated her flowing brown dress and the fact that she was wearing wings that were made of actual tree branches with a matching wooden tiara, both of which were adorned with what appeared to be pink and white buttercups. She must have spent a fair amount of time on her makeup, as she had designed patterns on her skin to resemble some brown tree bark, with bits of green flecks here and there to represent moss.

They didn't speak, just listening to the music and watching some of the kids dance. Jaina walked in on Arthas' arms, both of them dressed as a prince and princess, except that Arthas' leggings were far too tight on him, making it difficult for him to walk. Jaina, on the other hand, looked beautiful, as much as Sylvanas hated to admit it.

"Okay, I realize you two aren't talking," said Minnah, materializing in front of them, wearing a bat costume. "But look at you. You're sitting next to each other, and looking anywhere but at each other! Come and dance!"

"You go dance," Sylvanas finally told Faith. "I'm fine here."

"I don't feel like dancing," said Faith. In truth, she wanted to stay close to her friend. She didn't like feeling that they were already drifting apart after just a few weeks of school.

Dane walked over to them, looking like a werewolf, a costume he wore well, considering what he already was, "Oh, no, you're both going to dance," he said, first lifting Faith from the booth, then maneuvering a struggling Sylvanas to her feet. "Come on."

"Oh no. The last time anybody in here told me to 'come on and do something', it didn't end well." Faith shivered.

"What's the matter with you?" Sylvanas asked her. "You keep shivering."

"I don't know, okay? I'm cold. I've been cold ever since you guys got me out of the woods."

"Have you seen the healers about it?"

Faith shook her head, "I'm okay."

"You know, you keep saying that," said Sylvanas.

"And so do you!" Bursting into tears, she ran out of the cafeteria, not stopping until she'd reached one of the libraries. It was closed, so she just slumped down to the floor, crying.

Sylvanas found her minutes later, still in tears. She approached her slowly, giving her a chance to run away if she wanted to, but Faith did no such thing. She reached out a shaking hand to her, and Sylvanas took it, sitting down next to her.

"You're trembling," she remarked.

"C-cold…"

It wasn't that cold in the hallway, not enough for Faith to be shaking the way she was.

"Have you been having nightmares?"

"Only once."

"About the woods?"

Faith nodded.

"Did something happen while you were in there? Before Ghost arrived, I mean."

"Not really. It was… I was blindfolded, you know, so I couldn't see. They had given me a potion so that I wouldn't get thirsty, and that helped, but I was cold. And when they left me, I knew it was only going to be for a few hours, because they were going to come back at lunch time, but then I started wondering whether they would come back. Or what if they got lost and couldn't find me anymore?"

Sylvanas put an arm around her, and Faith leaned in, "You were scared."

"I didn't think I would be. I mean, I trusted them to come back for me." She paused, "The headmaster said I nearly died."

"You _would_ have died had Ghost not come to help you. If you had stayed out there any longer, I think you would have been in real trouble."

Faith was still trembling.

"You should get some sleep. You haven't had an easy week."

"Neither did you."

No, she supposed she hadn't.

"I was really looking forward to the dance," whispered Faith.

"I know. Me too. Kind of. Come on, I'll take you back to your room."

She walked with her to the Undercity, which was considerably cooler than the rest of the school. Faith began to shake even more, so much so that Sylvanas took off her captain's coat and put it over her shoulders.

Her room was just as chilly, and she shivered as she got into her nightgown while Sylvanas added an extra blanket to her bed.

"I'm wondering whether you're not getting sick or something," she said, helping Faith getting into bed. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"Will you stay with me?" she asked, her amber eyes wide.

"You want me to stay?"

Faith nodded, "Until I fall asleep? Please?"

She looked so miserable that, despite the fact that she was still upset, Sylvanas couldn't refuse, "All right." She settled down onto Faith's bed, holding her through the blankets, and feeling her shiver even then.

Her parents should have been there for this. Anybody else's parents would have freaked out at the thought of their child alone in the snowy woods for hours while tied to a tree. But as far as Sylvanas knew, they hadn't reacted to the school's letter about the incident.

"You're not used to being on your own like this, are you?" she asked her quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Your family hasn't contacted you to find out how you are."

"Your family hasn't been worried about you either," whispered Faith.

"No, but they haven't been for a while, and I'm used to it now. You're not."

A particularly violent shiver racked Faith's body, and Sylvanas gently put her hand on her forehead. "You're burning up. I'm going to go get someone."

"Don't leave me…" she begged.

"I need to get a healer. You can't stay like this. I'll be back, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I promise." Sylvanas tucked her in as best she could, then quickly left her room to go back to the cafeteria. The first teacher she saw was Master Rhonin, who immediately took charge.

"It was only a matter of time before she got sick," he said. "Go back to Faith. I'll come over in a few minutes, okay? She'll be fine."

She was back by Faith's bedside as soon as she could and found her crying into her pillow.

"Hey," she said quietly. "It's okay."

"I shouldn't have kissed you…"

Sylvanas froze, her heart beating uncomfortably hard in her chest, "You shouldn't have?"

"No…" Faith shivered.

"Wh-why not?"

"Ruined… everything…"

Master Rhonin arrived shortly afterwards with a healer in tow. Immediately, they both used a spell to warm the room, then checked Faith's temperature.

Rhonin whistled, "No wonder you're not feeling well. Your temperature is three degrees above what it normally should be."

"It's probably a delayed reaction to what happened to her in the woods," said the priest. "I don't think she should be alone for a while."

Rhonin looked at Sylvanas, "Would you stay with her for a few days? We'll excuse you from classes."

"You want me to stay with Faith alone in this room?"

"Not here. We're going to move her back to the clinic, but I would appreciate it if you could stay with her. You're really close, she could use you."

Sylvanas didn't know how to refuse without hurting both Faith and herself. "Okay…"

"Faith, we're going to move you now," said the priest.

"I don't want to be cold…" whimpered Faith, beginning to cry.

"No, no, you won't be cold," Master Rhonin put a hand on her shoulder, "You feel that? It's a heating spell, so that you can keep warm." He looked at the priest, "Go ahead, Vin, you can pick her up. Sylvanas, why don't you meet us in the clinic?"

She nodded and disappeared again, ignoring Faith's whimpers to stay.

How had she gotten herself in this situation? As she made her way to her own room to change out of her costume and get some extra clothes, she found herself scared. She was upset by what Faith had said to her, but she understood her point. The kiss had altered their relationship.

"And it wasn't even a long kiss or anything," she said to the empty room. "It was just… small." How could everything change over so small a thing? And if everything had changed, why was she on her way to spend a few days with Faith at the clinic?

"I don't care about her. I don't," she said to herself.

But she didn't sound convincing to her own ears.

Sylvanas arrived in the clinic to find that Faith had been tucked into bed, with an additional comforter draped over her. She was asleep, but opened her eyes as soon as she put her small bag down next to the bed.

"Shh, go back to sleep," Master Rhonin told her. "You're going to be okay."

"Will she?" Sylvanas asked him.

"Oh yeah, don't worry."

 _That's something, at least_ , she said to herself, settling down in the bed next to Faith's.

She spent the night waking up every time Faith did. Finally, she got up, pushed their beds together, and got back in, finding that Faith was now lying very close to her, her hand reaching out towards her. "Go to sleep," she said quietly, touching her fingers gently.

All in all, she was happy to be excused from classes, because it wasn't really comfortable to sleep in the clinic. People kept coming in to check on Faith, whose shivering was slowly subsiding. Minnah and the others visited for a while wondering whether it wouldn't be fun to have their own Hallow's End party, being as Faith had missed the dance.

"That's a great idea," said Anduin. "We can ask the teachers where we could do that. That way, it'll just be us, and we won't have to worry about anybody else."

"You think that they would agree?" wondered Sylvanas, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, carving a bit of wood to make another bow.

"Why not? We could make it a dinner or something, where we would all be in costume."

"What do you think, Faith?"

Faith sat up with difficulty, and Malfurion helped her pull her blanket closer around herself, "I don't know. It sounds like it could be fun, if it were just us and not everyone else."

"That way, we would get to show off our costumes some more. Yours looked really cool, by the way, and we barely got to see it! Oh, I'll go the headmaster if we can." Anduin scampered out of the clinic, leaving Faith staring after him, a little surprised.

"He really wants to do it…"

"We all do, it would be great," said Minnah.

Faith smiled a little, "Well, okay then. If you all insist."

And so it was that, a few days later, when Faith finally left the clinic, she and her friends held the party in an unused classroom that they decorated themselves. The cafeteria staff was kind enough to prepare food for them, and the Master Rhonin made sure to warm the room so that Faith wouldn't be cold.

It was a fun evening. More fun, perhaps, than the actual dance would have been had everything been all right. They had fun rating their costumes, and agreed that Sylvanas looked the best out of all of them, and even concocted their own "potions", using multiple types of fruit juices and sparkling water, coming up with interesting cocktails, some of which were impossible to swallow, while some others were delicious.

The weeks began to pass by quickly after the successful Hallow's End party. All of them were studying to their midterm exams, going over complicated magical theories and trying to execute perfect battle stances for the physical portions of their exams.

Fel Studies was the class Faith dreaded the most. The only reason she was any good at it was because she studied relentlessly, so that she could at least learn the theory of whatever Master Gul'dan was teaching by heart. But it definitely wasn't easy. She struggled much less in Demonology and Shadowmancy, which were her two favorite subjects. The idea of summoning a demon fascinated her, although she had already grown to respect them as creatures who could quickly grow out of hand.

As for her courses outside the Warlock Track, she had no problems there. She had begun to practice archery and tracking with Sylvanas every Sunday morning, where the two of them would go into the forest and track several animals with no intention of bringing them down, although they could have done had they wanted to.

Pilgrim's Bounty came and went, with excellent food that caused a couple of people to overindulge and be sick. Minnah had to stay in the clinic overnight, having eaten an entire pumpkin pie by herself

"I'll never do that again," she moaned the next day.

"Sure you will!" cried Faith with a grin. She was wearing a thick wrap over her robes to keep out the chill of the school, despite everyone telling her that it simply wasn't cold.

"I won't eat an entire pumpkin pie by myself again. Maybe half of it."

Sylvanas smiled, "I can't blame you for eating the whole thing. It _was_ good." She glanced at Faith, noticing that the elf's eyes were on her. She looked away quickly.

They had been doing that more and more lately. Stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Sylvanas had noticed that Faith's honey-colored hair actually had tones of gold underneath, as though being outside had darkened the locks. The previous week, as they had been tracking together, Faith had slipped, and Sylvanas had caught her hand to keep her from falling. She could swear that she'd heard Faith gasping at her touch.

But maybe that had just been a gasp of fear, a she'd nearly fallen in a tangle of brambles covered in white cobwebs.

"So, what are you guys doing for Winter's Veil?" asked Aysa, joining them with Ji. The two pandaren were definitely closer than they had been before, mainly due to Ji's gesture with the candy flower, which Aysa had greatly appreciated. "I'm trying to see whether my parents will allow Ji and his family to visit. I think it would be fun."

Faith and Sylvanas stared at them, "Meeting the parents already?" asked Sylvanas with a wink.

"Only if they agree to it," said Ji, rubbing at his cheek.

"It sounds great," Faith told them, smiling. She tried not to think about the fact that her parents hadn't answered the letter where she asked whether she could come home for the holidays. They apparently hadn't even answered the headmaster's letter regarding the fact that she had been so sick after Trickster Week.

"I'm going home," said Minnah. "The day after Winter's Veil Formal. My mother's invited everyone in the family for Winter's Veil to show me off." She sounded excited, and began bouncing on the balls of her feet at the prospect.

"How many of you will there be?"

"Oh, about seventeen people, I think. I can't wait!"

"What about you, Anduin?"

The priest gave a smile, "Actually, my mother will be coming here for the holidays. It's always just the three of us, but she's looking forward to being here again." He looked at Faith, "Any news for you?"

"Nope. But I'm hoping for a last-minute development," she attempted to smile.

But the development never came. The day before their exams began, Faith was forced to admit that she wouldn't be going home for a very long time, if ever. She didn't want to believe that it was really happening, that her parents were behaving the way they were towards her, but there was nothing she could do. Even Ravenna hadn't written back to her since her last letter.

Sylvanas watched as Faith, crushed, huddled in their booth, wrapping her wool scarf tightly around herself, as though trying to shield herself from further pain. She didn't cry, but it was close. She hadn't smiled in days.

She knew there was nothing she could do or say to make Faith feel better about the situation. All she and their friends could do was be there for her if she needed them.

But Faith got through her exams normally, realizing that she worked well when she was sad, and throwing herself into her studies. She even felt that she had passed Master Gul'dan's exam with flying colors.

"I wish I could work well under pressure," grumbled Rega, who would also be staying at school over the holidays. "I'm pretty sure I did horribly in Demonology."

"Oh, come on, it can't have been that bad," Faith told her. "You did good on the practice exam we had two weeks ago."

"Not that good, though. I almost failed."

"Well, you didn't fail this one, you'll see."

They went to get ready for the Formal, which was happening that night. Faith's dress was made of crushed velvet material that was ice blue in color, with sparkles that shimmered throughout the material. Because she still had cold spells, she had gotten a dress with sleeves that fell down to her knuckles, and she absolutely loved it.

They all met at the front doors, wanting to go into the dance together.

"Do you know what Sylvanas will be wearing tonight?" Malfurion asked her.

Faith shook her head, "She did state to me that she wouldn't be caught dead in a dress, and that she wouldn't be wearing another skirt, so I have no idea what…" her voice trailed off as Sylvanas arrived. Her throat went dry.

She was wearing deerskin leggings so black it was like looking at liquid onyx. She wore boots of the exact same color and material so that it was difficult to see where boot and legging met. She had completed the outfit with a matching black tunic that fell past her waist, and that had been embroidered with silver on the high collar and cuffs. Her hair was loose, and she must have done something to it, because it seemed to shine silver-blonde as it draped itself over one shoulder.

It was as though the air had been let out of the room. Faith couldn't breathe all of a sudden. And gasped aloud. Sylvanas looked up, and stopped, watching her intently.

"Yeah, we might as well not be there now," said Anduin thoughtfully.

"Do you think they're going to kiss?" asked Wilfred.

Sylvanas recovered first, glaring at him, "Don't be ridiculous. We've proven that it wouldn't work when the seniors tried it on us."

Oh, but she wasn't sure about that. She licked her lips as she looked at Faith, wanting nothing more than to go to her and press her lips to hers. Her heart was pounding in her chest, more than she remembered it doing since she'd been poisoned.

Faith blinked, "We should go in," she said quietly.

"Neither of you is going to dance, right?" asked Malfurion, looking at the shrewdly. "You're just going to sit in your booth together without moving?"

"Is that what we've been doing?" asked Sylvanas, chuckling.

"All the time," said Willy, who had just joined them with Izzy. "Okay, I know that you were sick at Hallow's End, so you didn't feel like getting up, but still."

Faith and Sylvanas looked at each other. Heat seemed to simmer between them again, and it was some time before they looked away, realizing that everyone else had already gone inside. Sylvanas offered her arm, and Faith took it, walking inside the cafeteria with her. Her fingers tingled where she was touching her.

"Now, why did I know that they were going to do that?" said Sylvanas in a low voice, looking towards their booth, which their friends had crowded into. There wouldn't be any hopes of them actually fitting there.

Biting her lip nervously, Faith watched Sylvanas' profile, "Do you want to dance for a bit?" The music was slow, seeming to vibrate from within the crystal snowflakes that hung in midair in the dark room.

Sylvanas nodded, "All right." She led her to the dance floor, where they began to move in time to the music. It was bizarre, mostly because everyone was looking at them. But at that moment, neither girl cared.

After about fifteen minutes, they left the dance floor and went to sit at a deserted table, grabbing some food for themselves.

"I feel like I'm on a date," said Sylvanas nervously. "Do you feel that? Is it weird?"

"Everyone's looking at us."

Sylvanas glanced around. Faith wasn't wrong, a lot of people _were_ looking at them. Arthas and Jaina, chiefly, were giggling at them like a couple of hyenas, but she really didn't care about that. "Do you feel weird being like this? We can go with the others if you want."

"No. I… I want to be with you," said Faith, wishing she could splash some water onto her burning cheeks. She swallowed, "It's a little weird, I guess, but not in a bad way. I'm not used to this."

"Being out with a girl?"

"Or anybody."

They started to eat, and little by little, their friends joined them with food.

"So now you're sitting alone at another table. What's up with that?" asked Minnah, who was watching Willy and Izzy dancing together.

"Well, unless we were going to sit on your laps at the booth," began Sylvanas.

"We just wanted to see whether you were going to dance!"

"I guess you got your wish then," said Faith, taking a bite of pheasant.

"You look cute together, you know that?"

Faith's mouth felt dry again, and she put her fork down to take a sip of apple cider. Sylvanas was looking anywhere but at her, her cheeks a little darker than the rest of her face. She finished eating and kept quiet, her eyes on the people on the dance floor.

All of a sudden, she felt Faith's hand in hers, "Come on, we should dance again. If you want to."

It was a slow song again, and the Tal'dorei got to her feet, putting both her hands on Faith's waist. Her movements were mechanical, as she felt nervous. Faith felt scarcely better, shaking within Sylvanas' arms. Both of them were acutely aware of the people around them, most of who were whispering to each other about them. Sylvanas thought that it was less because they were two girls and more because of who she was.

They danced for the rest of the night, mostly with each other, although the boys took turns with each of them as well. Faith even danced with Ji, who told her that he and Aysa were going to see each other over the holidays.

"I'm so nervous," he said quietly.

"Don't be, you guys will be okay, you'll see!"

The Formal ended with two of the seniors being elected King and Queen of Winter, which was a different coronation than Spring King and Queen. Their crowns appeared to be made of ice, and a shower of sparkling snowflakes fell on them as they kissed on the podium.

"Cute," said Faith.

Sylvanas grimaced, "Sickeningly so, I think."

"Really? You don't wish you were up there right now?"

"With you?" she asked, turning to her. She thought about it, "Yeah, okay."

Faith laughed, which made Sylvanas smile.

They left the dance in high spirits, all of them walking out together, arm in arm.

"What time is your bus leaving?" Faith asked the ones who would be going home.

"Ten o'clock. We'll be able to have breakfast together," said Minnah. "Maybe. I think I ate too much again."

Sylvanas wasn't ready for the night to end, and so, after bidding Anduin, Malfurion, and the pandaren good night, she followed Faith and the other warlocks down to the Undercity. On the stairs, her hand brushed against Faith's unintentionally, causing Faith to hiss softly and look at her.

"Maybe I should go back to my room," said Sylvanas gently. "Before we do something to ruin our friendship again."

"Friendship…" repeated Faith.

"You said I was your best friend. You're mine too. Besides, you told me that you shouldn't have kissed me."

Faith took her hand, pulling her inside her room and closing the door behind them. She was visibly shaking. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that, no."

"Right. And I don't want to ruin what we have going on here so –."

A finger pressed against her lips. Faith's finger. Sylvanas gave a gasp.

"I shouldn't have kissed you in front of everyone. Our first kiss… it should have been something precious, not something everyone saw."

"What?"

Faith came closer to her, "I want to kiss you, Sylvanas. Right now. I want to kiss you so much…" a tear spilled down her cheek.

"You do?" Sylvanas couldn't breathe.

"I've been thinking about kissing you again ever since we first… I didn't want to do it that way. I didn't want the entire school to see it. I didn't want people to think I had kissed you because I'd been dared to."

Sylvanas traced Faith's lips with her fingers, "You've been thinking about me?"

Faith kissed the fingers on her lips, "I have."

They leaned in close, "You still…"

"Yes…"

Their lips touched softly. Faith closed her eyes, stepping towards Sylvanas until their bodies were against each other. Sylvanas took her shaking hand in hers, pressing her lips harder against Faith's. Their mouths parted slightly as their tongues met once.

They jumped apart, as though burned. A current seemed to have gone through them both. Faith leaned against the door, breathing heavily. Sylvanas' eyes were still closed.

"I've been telling myself that I don't care about you," whispered Sylvanas. "That we're just friends. And now you…"

Faith took a step towards her, and her eyes snapped open. "I know. I'm sorry." Another step. Sylvanas held out a hand, grabbing hold of Faith's wrist and yanking her over. They were kissing again, awkwardly, at first, almost bumping foreheads. Little kisses that held no real satisfaction, a satisfaction they wanted to reach immediately, but were too scared to find.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was really ten minutes, they pulled away from each other but didn't let go. Sylvanas ran her finger through Faith's locks.

"Your hair is soft," she commented quietly.

"You're beautiful," murmured Faith.

Sylvanas smiled a little, "You're the first person who's told me that since it happened."

"Well, it's the truth." She shivered, and Sylvanas stepped away from her.

"I should go…"

"No you shouldn't."

"I'm making you cold."

"So I'll put on something warmer. I don't want you to leave…"

"I'll be back in the morning."

"Promise?" asked Faith, a note of uncertainty in her voice.

A gentle kiss, "I promise," said Sylvanas.

* * *

 **AN - It was brought to my attention that I didn't have Faith reacting to her ordeal in a conventional way. I wasn't going to have her react harshly, because the seniors really hadn't meant to harm her. But everyone's comments had me thinking, which is why I gave her a delayed reaction. Thank you for all of your imput on this! I hope what you read was to your liking, but i'm open to more suggestions, as long as it doesn't fully change my storyline ^_^.**


	8. Chapter 7: Miracle of the Season

**Author's Note:** _Surprise!_

 _I didn't think I was going to finish this chapter before going on holiday tomorrow, but here it is! It's a little short, and I'm sorry for that, just like I'm sorry for how long it took me to update this story. I've had a lot going on, what with finishing Fall and Rebirth and starting Almost Beyond. I've had to pick my battles._

 _Anyways, I hope you like it!_

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Miracle of the Season**

 _Promise_.

Faith woke up with Sylvanas' promise on her mind, feeling as though her lips were still burning from the kisses she had shared with her. It was early, according to her watch, but she didn't care, she wanted to get up. She washed quickly, and put on a long-sleeved red dress with white leggings and white ankle boots before she went out of her room.

Immediately, she crashed into someone, someone with cold skin, who had apparently been debating whether or not to knock at her door.

"Whoa!"

"Ouch!"

"Shh, not so loud!"

"Sorry…"

Sylvanas looked at her, her red eyes wide, "Wow… where are you going, dressed like that?"

"To find you."

"Oh, well, good job." Sylvanas smiled at her, pushing a lock of hair from her forehead. "Good morning," she said.

Faith opened the door to her room again, pulling Sylvanas inside. As soon as the door closed behind them, Faith kissed her. "Good morning," she whispered.

"Do you want to go to breakfast?"

"It's a little early for food," said Faith. "But can I talk to you about something?"

The smile on Sylvanas' face faltered a little, "Sure."

"I'd like to keep this between us for now. I don't want the entire school to know about it."

"Are you afraid of what they're going to say?"

Faith shook her head, "No. But I want this to be just between us for now. I don't want to hide, but I also don't want to show everyone all at once. I want us to gradually work up to it."

"I don't think they're going to get used to it, to tell you the truth, no matter how gradually we show them."

"No, they won't. But I also don't want everyone to ask us a million questions. You're my… we're…. I need to get used to it, myself, before I try to explain it to anybody else."

"I'm your what?"

Faith kissed her again, pushing her back against the door. Her eyes closed and her hands came to rest on Sylvanas' hips. But Sylvanas moved her head away, mid-kiss.

"What am I to you? Just a friend?"

"I don't know… do you want to put a label on this?"

"I just… I don't know."

Faith looked at her, stroking her face, "Would you like me to call you my girlfriend? I can, if that's what you want."

Sylvanas' eyes were wide. She didn't seem to be able to speak. Her hands began to shake. For a few moments, neither of them said anything, just looking at each other.

"I should go," said Sylvanas finally. "I don't think I can… I can't do this."

There was nothing Faith could do to stop her. She stepped away from her, and Sylvanas quickly left, fairly running away from the Undercity and finding herself outside, taking big gulps of cold air. A tear slipped down her cheek. What was she doing? She couldn't do this to Faith. If Faith liked girls, it was one thing, but her… she was a Tal'dorei. They couldn't.

"Sylvanas."

She jumped out of her skin, feeling Faith right behind her.

"Go back inside before you freeze."

"I will," said Faith. "Come with me."

"No, I'm okay."

"Sylvanas, please."

Sylvanas shook her head, "I realized that I can't, Faith. I can't be…"

"Well then you don't have to be."

"I'm no good at this kind of stuff. I told you, I've never done this before."

"Neither have I, but you don't believe me when I say it." She took Sylvanas' hand and turned her around to face her, "Can't we learn together? We'll see what we're comfortable doing, and what we'd rather not do. If you don't want us to kiss or anything, that's fine, we don't have to."

Sylvanas looked down at their hands, saying nothing.

"You… do you just want us to be friends?" asked Faith. She couldn't help it, her eyes pooled with tears.

"No. I just don't know what to do."

Faith nodded, "Okay. What are you feeling right now?"

"Confused."

"What else?"

"I want to kiss you, but I'm scared."

"I'm scared too."

"You are?"

"Yes." She shivered. "Can we go back inside? Please?"

"Okay."

Keeping their hands joined, they walked back inside the school, then turned in the direction of Sylvanas' room.

The sun was just beginning to shine through the window when the two of them fell on the bed, not saying anything, but staying close to each other. After a few minutes, Faith fell asleep with her head on Sylvanas' shoulder, waking up an hour later so that the two of them could go to breakfast with the others.

Most people were excited about their Winter's Veil holidays. The cafeteria had a festive air as Faith entered, Sylvanas following not far behind. Students milled together, forgetting to eat and talking in happy voices about their plans.

"And to think that _some_ kids won't be going home," said Jaina in a carrying voice. "I guess nobody wants a warlock around for the holidays."

"It's a wonder your parents can stand to have your filth around, Jaina," snarled Sylvanas.

Faith took her arm, leading her away, "Don't pay attention to them. I'm happy I get to spend the holidays with you."

"Awe. That's cute," said Minnah, poking Sylvanas in the ribs.

"What's cute?" wondered Sylvanas, batting Minnah's hand away.

"You two! You'd make a cute couple, you know."

"Couple?" asked Faith and Sylvanas together.

"You so would!" exclaimed Anduin, coming over to their table. "You're already really close, and you kissed at the Hallow's End dance."

"Yeah, that ended well," muttered Faith, trying not to blush.

"I was honestly surprised that you didn't kiss last night while you were dancing. Everyone was talking about it."

Sylvanas sat down, pulling at Faith's arm until she sat on her lap, "Let them talk, if they can't find anything better to do." She kept a hand out of sight, pressed to Faith's side, to make sure that she wouldn't try to get up. They must have looked convincing, because Anduin stared at them.

"Wait, are you two… really?"

"No!" exclaimed Sylvanas, her sepulchral laughter echoing throughout the cafeteria. "But it'll be fun to see what people say about us now."

"Probably that you shouldn't lower your standards so much as to date a warlock," Faith told her.

"But I like warlocks."

"I guess we're special."

Sylvanas' hand gently squeezed her side, but she didn't say anything. Unseen by anyone, Faith rubbed Sylvanas' knee. They both shivered.

"Honestly, though," said Minnah, "what are you going to do for two weeks?"

Faith had absolutely no idea. Two weeks alone with Sylvanas, uninterrupted? There were many things that the two of them could do together, but she had a feeling that they would be at the archery range, depending on the weather.

Sylvanas said as much to Minnah, who just rolled her eyes. "You're going to be here for two weeks, and you're going to _shoot arrows_?"

"Oh, we can have a friendly… competition," said Sylvanas.

"I'm not competing against you, you'll wipe the ground with me!"

Sylvanas chuckled. "I'll be gentle."

Two hours later, almost everyone was gone. Faith made sure that every single student in the Mage Track had left before she ran to their library to immerse herself in their books. In truth, that was something she had been looking forward to doing for weeks. Sylvanas came to find her there before lunch, looking around curiously.

"I've never been in here before," she said, going to where Faith was curled up on the couch, reading a thick volume entitled _Encyclopedia of Illusions_.

"You and I aren't allowed normally, despite what Master Rhonin says about it. It's one of the reasons why I was happy to stay here when I realized that almost everyone else was going home for the holidays."

"Do you want me to go so that you can have the library to yourself?"

"Don't be silly." She got to her feet, walking to the register that students used to check out the books. She held the book out to it, and some kind of arcane energy came from it, touching the book's spine.

"What's it doing?"

"It's scanning the book," said Faith. "It also takes my handprint. Look." She pressed her hand to a glass window on the register, and her name appeared next to the book's title, both of which disappeared soon after. "I have two weeks to return the book now."

"Not bad. But I hope you're not going to read during our entire holiday."

Faith grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it." She went to the cafeteria with Sylvanas, finding that there were only a handful of people there. Rega was sitting with a couple of other orc warlocks, chatting animatedly in Orcish. Anduin sat with his father and a beautiful woman who could only be his mother.

"Man, this school empties fast," commented Sylvanas, as they took trays of festive food to their usual booth.

"I'd feel very lonely if you weren't around, to be honest," Faith told her, sitting in front of her.

The Tal'dorei smiled, "Me too." She wanted Faith next to her, not across from her. She couldn't touch her when she was that far, and her fingers tingled from it.

 _Were you not telling yourself this morning that you couldn't be with her?_

She couldn't. It wasn't that her own family would care, and Faith's family seemed to have turned away from her, but if there was the slightest chance of them changing their minds… she didn't want to make a bad situation worse.

"What's up?" Faith asked her.

"Nothing. I just don't think we should be more than friends, that's all."

"Is that what you really feel?"

"It is. Why? Do you think we should do… more?"

"I don't know what 'more' would entail, to be honest."

"I guess whatever we did in your room," said Sylvanas.

"Okay. So we'll be friends." Faith finished her lunch, but her heart wasn't in it. Once she was done, she looked around. The teachers had decorated the cafeteria overnight, turning the walls a glittering white. The floor was now a pretty shade of candy red, with white swirls here and there. A huge Winter's Veil tree, decorated with red and white ornaments and twinkling white lights, stood at the very center of the room. It was nice to look at, soothing. Faith kept her eyes on it until Sylvanas got to her feet.

"I'll see you for dinner, I guess, if you want."

Faith nodded, and watched her go. Confusion washed over her, followed by guilt, and some kind of sorrow. She wanted to go after her friend, but didn't dare, and so spent the rest of her day alone.

She didn't even go to dinner, not wanting to impose her presence on the Tal'dorei. Hungry for more than just food, Faith fell asleep with a tear trickling down her face.

The next day dawned gray and cold. Snow fell thickly outside, and Faith, dressed in her gray wool dress again, knew that she'd be staying inside all day. Magical fires had been lit throughout Undercity to keep most of the chill away, and she was grateful for it, although she didn't stay there long, instead going back to the mage library and setting herself with her book again, under a blanket this time, so that she could read in peace.

She wasn't alone in the library, she saw right away. Master Rhonin was there too, apparently working on some sort of research involving invisibility, judging by the way he kept appearing and disappearing on the spot. Suddenly, he appeared right next to her, making her jump.

"Hello, Faith," he said to her quietly.

"Master Rhonin," she replied, marking the page in her book. "You startled me."

"My apologies. I couldn't help but notice that you haven't been spending time with your friend Sylvanas. Have you two had a fight?"

"I don't know, actually." Faith looked down, trying to formulate a sentence. "I like her. A lot."

"Yes. We've noticed this."

"You have?"

"Yes. Especially since we saw the two of you yesterday morning in the yard. It looks like you're more than just friends, am I right?"

"I don't know what we are now." Faith rubbed at her forehead, "I know she likes me too."

"Could she be scared? First relationships can be difficult."

Relationships? "I don't know whether we're in a… I mean, we like each other, but we don't want too many people to know. I thought we'd come to an understanding yesterday, but she changed her mind."

Rhonin sat down, "It's not easy, and I think I know what she's feeling. Her sister Alleria spoke to me the other day, telling me that she didn't know what to think about your friendship. She's against warlocks, and she hates that her sister was turned into a Tal'dorei as well."

"So why would she care about what we do?"

"Because she's Sylvanas' sister, and it's in her nature to care. I've told her time and again and that she shouldn't worry, because you're a good person. Just because the shadow called to you doesn't mean you're out to destroy the world."

"You're one of the few people who thinks that. I still haven't heard from my family."

"They'll come around. I've sent them your progress report, the one you'll get after the holidays, and told them that you're one of my best students in Illusion Studies."

"Thank you. But I'm sure they don't care about that."

"They should. I also sent a letter to your sister. It's not fair that your family cut you off like that. I suppose they wouldn't take kindly to the fact that you've befriended someone like Sylvanas, would they?"

Faith chuckled, "No, I'm fairly certain that they'd be very upset over that, even if I am a warlock." She looked at him, "What do you think I should do with Sylvanas?"

"I think that you should wait a little. Follow your heart. If you want to be with her, be with her, but please try not to let something like this get in the way of your friendship, it would be a real shame."

"So I should go find her?"

"If you feel up to it. The more time you spend apart, the more difficult it will be for the two of you."

And so it was that a few minutes later, Faith walked towards Sylvanas' end of the school. She knocked on her door but didn't see her there, nor was she at the archery range. She might have been in the woods, but Faith wasn't about to go in there on her own, not again, and certainly not while it was snowing.

She went back inside the school, and could swear that she saw Sylvanas' face reflected in one of the mirrors of the entrance hall, but when she turned around, nobody was there.

 _Maybe she really doesn't want to see me_ , she thought sadly.

She went back to the cafeteria and sat there alone, reading her book until Anduin came to sit with her.

"What's going on?" he asked. "I thought that you and Sylvanas were going to be spending all of your time together now. Where is she?"

"I don't know. We hung out a little this morning, but then she disappeared. She might be with Ghost in the forest."

"Without you?"

Faith smiled a little, "I don't really go into the forest when it's cold."

"Yeah, I can understand that. Still, it's weird to see the two of you apart. You've been getting along well lately."

"I can't blame her for wanting some alone time."

"But all she does is have alone time." He looked around, seeing that Sylvanas had just walked in, "There you are!" he exclaimed. "Come sit down, will you?"

A little taken aback by Anduin's enthusiasm, Sylvanas joined them, sitting next to him instead of next to Faith. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why you're leaving Faith alone on the first full day of winter vacation."

"I didn't. I know she's been busy hanging out at the mage library, and I went for a walk with Ghost in the woods. We don't have to be together every second of the day, you know." Had she been looking at Faith, she would have seen a look of pain cross her features.

"That's funny. All of us thought that there was something more going on between you than just friendship."

"There isn't," Faith told him, playing with the ring on her finger.

Anduin looked at them for a moment, "Well, if you think your friendship can survive it, my parents and I are going to the zoo tomorrow. Would you like to come?"

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have a warlock and a Tal'dorei with them," said Faith.

"These labels people put on you…. it's ridiculous. You're not defined by this."

"I'm a Tal'dorei. It's who I am, and there's nothing I can do about it. And Faith is a warlock, it can't be changed."

"You're an elf who was poisoned by people who wanted to hurt your family. And you, Faith, are a girl who feels a pull to shadow magic, that's all. There's nothing else going on there. Besides, my father knows you both."

"Uh-huh, and this is a human zoo you're going to? How do you think they'll react to seeing us?"

"I have to admit, I didn't think about that," said Anduin, scratching the back of his head.

Sylvanas smiled, getting up to grab some food, "Thanks for the offer, though, I appreciate it. But I think it'll be best for everyone if I stay here."

"Then stop going off on your own!" called Anduin after her.

Faith shook her head, "You can't force her to hang out with me."

"But she wants to. I don't know why she's holding back."

Getting to her feet, Faith joined Sylvanas at the buffet table, getting herself a heaping plate of macaroni and cheese, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Sylvanas started, "Yeah. Fine."

"Would you like me to leave you alone for the rest of our holidays?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. It's complicated."

Complicated. Faith could only imagine. She spent the next few days studying, even going to Gul'dan to get some help with her fel magic, which she still had problems with, although she was getting better.

She saw Sylvanas once or twice when she went to the archery range to practice, but more often than not, she was there alone. She did spend some time with Rega and the other warlocks, but it wasn't the same. She still felt lonely.

 _I miss her. I don't understand why I have to lose my best friend just because I happen to have feelings for her._

Great Father Winter arrived in the form of the headmaster, who looked very comical wearing his red costume and oversized boots, and handed out presents. Faith, who had left a small bracelet at Sylvanas' door, found herself with a brand-new cloak to wear, made of fine black wool.

"It's gorgeous," commented Sylvanas when she saw it. "Like it was made for you."

Faith looked at her. The two of them hadn't been alone together since their vacation had started, "Thanks."

Sylvanas nodded, "And thanks for the bracelet." She held up her left arm to show that she was wearing it. It was a silver circle, dotted here and there with little silver balls that had been polished to look like pearls.

"It was nothing. I just saw it at the store the other day and thought it would suit you."

"So you bought it and gave it to me even though I'm been a complete bitch towards you." Sylvanas looked down at the bracelet, biting her lip.

"You haven't been."

"Yes I have. I care about you, and it scares me." She sighed, "I thought it would be best if I avoided you because I thought it would help things. But it hasn't."

"You know, just because we like each other doesn't mean it has to change everything."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Of course it has to change something. I can't just tell people that we're friends when all I want to do is hold your hand and kiss you in the corridors."

"You… you do?" asked Faith, her eyes wide.

"Sometimes. At other times, the idea scares me, and I run away because I don't know what to expect. So many people hate me because I'm a Tal'dorei, and I don't want to make it worse by having a relationship with a girl. Especially when that girl is a warlock."

Faith looked down. "I don't hate you," she whispered.

"I know."

"And like you said to Anduin, I can't help that I'm a warlock. I wish I could, but it's the way I am."

"I know that too. I like you the way you are, warlock and all."

"But you're avoiding me."

"That's because I'm scared and I don't know what to do. Running seems like the safest option." She touched Faith's hand with a finger before pulling away, "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. Should my heart beat this way around you? Should it beat at all? There's nobody I can ask about this, because nobody will understand."

"I can't exactly write home about the way I feel either, you know. I see you sometimes, and I can't breathe. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel either, but what I _do_ know is that I don't like being away from you." She blinked rapidly a few times so that the tears in her eyes would dissipate.

Taking Sylvanas' hand lightly in hers, she led her outside so that they could sit on the covered wall that surrounded part of the courtyard. Sylvanas looked down at their joined hands and squeezed gently.

"You really want to do this," she said quietly. "You really want to be my… you want us to be… together."

"I don't like being away from you," repeated Faith. "These few days when I was alone, I hated them. You and I are supposed to be having a fun holiday together, and instead we're spending it apart… I feel like I did something wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's me. I'm the one who's afraid."

"But you're not the only one who's afraid, Sylvanas! For the sake of argument, imagine what _my_ family would say if they knew I had feelings for you."

"They'd hate it." She took her hand away from Faith's.

"They would. But the truth is, I don't care what they think."

"Yes you do."

"Okay, but it doesn't bother me as much. They haven't bothered writing to me since I joined the warlock track, so I don't care so much what they would think if I started dating you."

"You should write to them."

"And say what? That I'm going to switch to the mage track and fall for a nice wholesome guy? That's not what I want. And it's not what you want either."

"You don't know what I want, Faith."

Without warning, Faith leaned over, pressing her lips to Sylvanas'. The Tal'dorei went rigid, but a second later, her hand had found Faith's cheek, stroking it lightly. She made a small sound in the back of her throat.

"I think I know what you want, Sylvanas…"

Sylvanas' lower lip began to tremble. "You're not supposed to want to be with me."

"Tough. That's the way it is."

"I don't think I can be a good…" Sylvanas swallowed, "girlfriend."

"You don't know that, just like I don't know what kind of girlfriend I could be. But that's why I think that we can learn together."

"So… I can kiss you?" asked Sylvanas, her voice small. "I can really kiss you?"

Faith nodded, "Whenever you want. If you want to kiss me in the middle of the archery range, or while we're tracking in the forest, you can."

"And you won't mind?"

"No, I won't mind."

"You promise?"

Faith leaned close to Sylvanas again, pulling down her hood and running her fingers through her hair, "I promise." She kissed her softly, and Sylvanas kissed her back, shyly. Their tongues touched, and, again, they both jumped away, as if electrocuted.

"What…"

"I don't know…" Faith licked her lips. "Do… do you want to try again?"

"Yes. But inside. You're shivering."

She was, but it wasn't because she was cold. Or not only because she was cold.

They got up and found themselves in the cafeteria, lying down underneath the decorated tree, with Faith resting her head on Sylvanas' shoulder.

"Next year, we can decorate our own tree, what do you think?"

Faith squeezed her hand, "I like that idea."

"Maybe with purple, white, and gold decorations."

"Sounds beautiful."

"Hey!" called Anduin's voice. "What are you two doing under the tree?"

Sylvanas chuckled, "Maybe we should have gone back to my room," she whispered.

"Hush," Faith told her. She raised her voice to address Anduin, "Come on over, you should really see it from this angle, it's gorgeous. And the smell of the tree is incredible from here."

A few seconds later, Anduin had come to lie down next to Faith, squeezing in close to her so that she was forced to squeeze in closer to Sylvanas. Sylvanas didn't mind, pressing her body against her girlfriend's.

Girlfriend. She had a girlfriend.

A miracle of the season.


	9. Chapter 8 - Public Display of Affection

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I found myself inspired to update Academy of Azeroth! Several of you have been asking me about it, and I can only thank you for being so patient with me when it comes to this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter and that I'll manage to update more often!

Love,

Lunarelle

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Public Display of Affection**

Faith and Sylvanas expected the novelty of being together to fade as the weeks following Winter's Veil sped by. But that wasn't the case. Every time Faith saw Sylvanas, her heart stuttered an irregular beat in her chest, and from what she could tell, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Sometimes, the two of them touched, only to gasp and jump apart, not always able to keep physical contact with each other.

They kept their relationship private. They were friendly with each other in public, as they had always been, but when they were alone, they threw caution to the winds, sitting on each other's laps and holding hands. They didn't kiss as often as they wanted to, still feeling a little shy, perhaps, and afraid to take things too far.

Whether their friends suspected something, they didn't know, but Faith thought that Anduin had an inkling of what was going on between them. He didn't mention it, but he looked at them carefully from time to time, smiling at them for no apparent reason.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Sylvanas asked Faith one evening in January, when the temperature had dropped so such a record low that even spells could do little to change anything. Students sat under blankets in class, fires roaring in every available fireplace, and any outdoor classes had been relocated to keep people from freezing.

Faith was sitting on her bed in her warmest clothes, a thick blanket wrapped around her. "I haven't told him," she said. "But he's observant."

Sylvanas came to sit next to her, "You don't mind him knowing?"

"I don't think he'll do anything. I'd be more worried if other people knew about us."

"You still don't want to go public with… us?"

"It's hard to keep things quiet here. Everyone knows everything about everyone else, and what we have, it's just us."

"It's a secret."

Faith smiled, "That's not what I mean. I don't want everyone speculating things about us, and talking about our relationship. I want this to be about you and me, not about you, me, and the whole school. I want to keep you to myself for as long as I can."

Sylvanas looked at the wall as her hand found Faith's, "Oh. Okay."

"You want us to tell people?"

"No. I just want to be able to… never mind."

"You want to be able to do what? Kiss me in front of everyone?"

"In the mornings, you know, when I first see you," her voice got lower and lower and she rubbed at her cheek, releasing Faith's hand. "It's silly."

"You want to kiss me good morning in the cafeteria?" Faith's voice sounded strange.

"I know I could just meet you here, or you can stop by my room or something, but…" Sylvanas' eyes widened as Faith moved closer to her, kissing her lips. "Ah… what was that for?"

"I just wanted to kiss you, that's all. Is it okay?"

Sylvanas gave a nod, licking her lips, "I just wish I could do that any time, you know? Without having to drag you away from other people."

"Drag me away? Faith closed the book on her lap, "You haven't had to drag me anywhere."

"No, but I've wanted to."

"You have? Is that normal?"

"I don't know… you haven't wanted to…" her voice trailed off.

Faith blinked slowly, "I've been trying not to, actually."

"What do you mean?" asked Sylvanas quickly.

"The other day, we were on the archery range, and you had this really intense look on your face because you were focused on what you were doing. I wanted to kiss you then. I almost did, that's why I missed my shot."

"You should have kissed me."

"Even if we were together in public, I don't think that teachers, especially your sister, would appreciate that."

Sylvanas laughed a little, "Okay, you have a point." Her cheeks darkened, "What about now? Do you still want to kiss me?"

"Yeah," said Faith quietly.

"You can, you know. We're alone."

Faith's hands were shaking, "I know we are. But we need to study. I have a Fel Studies test in the morning."

Sylvanas inched closer to her, "Won't you be able to study better afterwards?"

"No. I'll be distracted for the rest of the day if I really kiss you now."

"You did really well in your Fel Studies midterm, I think you're okay."

"Yeah but… but… Sylvanas."

Sylvanas kissed her. Faith tried to move away, but found that she couldn't. Her mind went blank at the first press of the Tal'dorei's tongue against hers, and she was just starting to kiss her back when the door opened.

The girls jumped apart, Faith wincing as Sylvanas accidentally bit her lip.

"I knew it!" cried Minnah, her small voice bouncing off the walls. "I knew you two were together!" Behind her, Anduin was looking mortified at having caught them, while Rega bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"I could swear that door was closed," said Faith, a blush on her cheeks. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"What's the fun of knocking?" Minnah came into the room, pulling herself up to sit on the bed. Rega and Anduin walked in more slowly, "You should have told us! We were wondering when you were going to do it."

"It?" asked Sylvanas.

"Get together, of course! What did you think I was… oh wow! Have you two… wow…"

"Have we…" Sylvanas blinked and nearly fell off the bed in her haste to get away from Faith, who blushed even harder. "No! What in the world are you thinking?"

"So you haven't done anything?"

Faith grabbed her pillow and hid her head within its folds, "What you walked in on was pretty much it. And thanks, by the way, it was just getting good."

"Was it now?" asked Sylvanas quietly.

Anduin cleared his throat, "We should probably leave them alone."

"Why? Do you two want to resume what you were doing?"

Faith gave a frustrated sigh, "This is one of the reasons I wanted to keep this quiet."

"Oh, come on," said Minnah. "You know I'm only teasing you." She hopped off the bed, "Okay, we'll leave, but you both have to give us details later on! We want to know everything!"

"There's not much to tell," said Sylvanas. "So could you please not mention tis to anybody?"

"You want this kept quiet?" asked Rega. "Just think of what Arthas and Jaina would say about it, they'd hate it."

"And they'd have more ammunition to hit us with," Faith told her, looking up from her pillow.

Anduin agreed, "She has a point. But we can't even tell Malfurion or Dane? They won't mind. Heck, they'll actually be happy for you."

Sylvanas shook her head, "Not now."

"Okay, okay, we won't say anything. But you're killing me here, I mean this is huge news!"

"I'm sure there are plenty of other news for you to talk to people about," reasoned Anduin. "Come on." He led Minnah out of the room, closing the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Faith lay down and put the pillow over her head.

Not really knowing what to do, Sylvanas slid her body close to hers, not quite touching her, "I'm sorry. I know you wanted this to be just between us."

"It's not your fault, unless you told them to come down here, and I know you didn't."

Sylvanas bit her lip, "The kiss was good?"

Faith groaned, "It was… really good. I'll be thinking about it for days."

Days. Sylvanas couldn't help but smile, taking the pillow away from Faith. She leaned over her, "We could do it again if you want."

"I still need to study."

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard!"

"It's not an excuse, it's true. And you have a test coming up too."

Sylvanas huffed, "Fine. I'll go."

"Go? You don't have to go."

"Yes I do. If I stay here like this, I'm going to end up distracting you for the rest of the day, and we won't get any work done. See you at dinner?"

Faith nodded mutely, and watched as Sylvanas gathered her bag and left. Alone, it took her a few minutes to get off the bed and grab her Fel Studies book, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to focus for the rest of the day.

She wasn't wrong. Despite giving it her best efforts, she didn't make much headway with her test preparation. She read the same page three times without taking in any of its meaning, and by dinner time, she had a headache.

"You've addled my brain," she told Sylvanas as she sat down with a bowl of beef stew.

"Me?! You're the one who had me leave."

"I didn't tell you to leave, you did that on your own."

"Well, I didn't _want_ to leave. But you kept talking about needing to study, so I made a decision to leave you be."

"Are you two fighting again?" asked Anduin, sitting with them.

Beneath the table, Faith took Sylvanas' hand, "Of course not."

"Good. I mean, you two just got together, so it would really be a shame if you already started to fight."

"Keep it down," implored Faith.

"Don't worry, nobody can hear me. And even if they could, it's nobody's business but your own."

"Right, because that's stopped people in the past." Faith shivered and took a bite of stew to warm up.

"Are you still getting cold spells?" wondered Minnah, coming over. "I thought you'd be over that by now."

"Everyone's cold right now, it's freezing out there."

"Sylvanas isn't."

Sylvanas shrugged, "I thrive in cold dark places."

"Like a spider," said Arthas, passing by their table. "That's what you look like, a spider, an undead, cold spider."

"Hell of a pretty spider," said Faith. "She could certainly give you and Jaina a run for your money as far as looks are concerned."

Arthas burst into laughter and walked away.

"He's really full of himself, isn't he?" asked Anduin. "I thought he would have mellowed out over Winter's Veil."

"Why would he?" asked Minnah. "I heard his sister will be starting here next year as a priest. We can only hope that she's going to be nicer than he is."

Laughter echoed across the cafeteria as Arthas recounted Faith's statement to his friends. They overheard Jaina screeching something about Sylvanas' looks, and everyone started laughing again.

"At least I can make them laugh," she said, spearing a bit of meat and chewing on it thoughtfully.

"Listen to me," hissed Faith. "You might be a Tal'dorei, but those two and their friends are dark inside, which isn't your case. You're kind and thoughtful, and I happen to love the way you look."

"I guess what you think is what matters most."

"Aww," said Minnah. "That's adorable."

"I've never been called kind and thoughtful before."

"You are," said Anduin. "To Faith, at least. I mean, already before this, we knew that you liked her a lot."

"We're best friends, of course we like each other. And stop trying to fish for information."

Anduin grinned, "Is it that obvious?"

"It's all over your face."

"You guys don't wanna talk about it at all?" asked Minnah.

"Not here," said Faith. "And not until the two of us have figured things out."

"What's there to figure out?"

Sylvanas snorted, "Everything. It's new, we have a lot to think about."

She was right. Over the next few weeks, Faith couldn't stop thinking about her relationship with Sylvanas. It felt right to her, to be with the Tal'dorei in every sense of the word. They wanted to be together, and it was obvious that they hated being separated, even if it was for the length of a class. They could talk about anything, and liked to learn from each other, no matter what the subject was.

But both of them wondered what people would say if word were to get out. Master Rhonin knew, and was supportive, but both Faith and Sylvanas knew that Alleria would have a serious problem with it. As for Faith's parents, they hadn't been interested in her life so far, but this particular bit of information might bring about a violent reaction from them. As for the other students, their reaction was bound to be unpleasant.

"Do you want to keep hiding?" asked Sylvanas one morning. The Love Festival was going to take place that very evening, and many students were giggling about it. "Or should we just tell people, no matter what?"

Faith chewed on her lower lip, "It would be better for us to tell them on our own terms, wouldn't it?"

Sylvanas nodded, "I know you don't want anybody else to know, but if they find out by accident, rumors will start, and it might make things worse. That way at least, we get to decide what we tell people."

"We also won't have to hide anymore," whispered Faith.

"That'll be nice. It's been hard for me, to hide like that. At first, it was fun, but then it felt…"

"Like a burden?"

"Yeah. Not us, but the hiding part." Sylvanas smiled a little, and brushed a lock of hair away from Faith's forehead, "What are you wearing to the festival tonight?"

"I have a dress. How about you? Will you wear the dress the seniors gave you during Trickster Week?"

The smile vanished from Sylvanas' face, "I'd rather die than wear that again."

"So what will you be wearing?"

"Clothes. What's your dress like?"

"Kind of a pink dress, and made of velvet, because it's warmer."

"Sounds pretty. And your clothes?"

Sylvanas smirked, "You'll see."

"Oh, don't keep me in suspense!"

But keep her in suspense she did, until the very last moment. They met at the castle's entrance, where several booths had been installed proclaiming that love was in the air. One booth, managed by senior warlocks, advertised everything to do with succubi, from plush toys to shirts and toy whips. Another booth claimed to have love potions, while another, manned by two druids, sold perfumes.

Faith looked beautiful in her dress, which came to just above the knee and was worn with white tights to keep her warm. On her feet were cute shoes of the exact same color as her raspberry-colored dress, which also matched the ribbons in her hair.

"Oh, Sylvanas…" she whispered when she saw her.

Sylvanas wasn't wearing a dress, but another black outfit that consisted of leggings and a tunic, but this time, she had added a long jacket to the mix, which fell to her ankles.

Unable to help herself, Faith went to her, wrapped her arms around her, and kissed her deeply.

The world stopped turning.

Sylvanas, completely stunned, was barely able to react at first, only managing to put an arm around Faith's waist to keep her balance.

Around them, people stared, disbelieving. There was no sound, no movement except for the two girls' passionate embrace.

Finally, Faith pulled away, her arms still around Sylvanas' neck. Sylvanas blinked and cleared her throat, her tongue snaking out to lick her lips.

"What… um… what was that for?" She cleared her throat again, swallowing and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't… I just needed to…"

"In front of everyone?"

Faith looked down, "I had to…" Suddenly feeling ashamed, she made to leave, but Sylvanas pulled her back.

"Do that again."

"What?"

"Kiss me again." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Faith's, gentle at first, then a little more demanding. Shy now, Faith responded timidly, her tongue softly touching her the Tal'dorei's.

By the time they pulled apart again, a crowd had gathered. Anduin was there, looking surprised but happy, while, next to him, Malfurion stood with his mouth open.

"Did you know about them?" he hissed.

Anduin nodded, "We kind of walked in on them last month."

"Last month?! And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't my place to tell you something like that. I didn't think they were going to be quite so open about it, though." He spotted Arthas, who looked like someone had clubbed him over the head.

Lacing her fingers with Sylvanas', Faith walked over to Anduin and Malfurion, "Hi," she said.

"Hello. What's with the public display of affection?"

"I was just standing there," said Sylvanas. "I have no idea where that came from."

Faith smiled sheepishly, "We'd talked about letting people know. I didn't mean to do it that way but… I don't know what came over me."

"Well," said Malfurion, blushing, "love _is_ in the air."

Sylvanas shook her head, "I think it's too soon to talk about love."

"Right," said Faith. "I'm still at the obsessive stage."

Anduin started to laugh, and a moment later, Minnah arrived, indignant at having missed everything.

"You were _making out_?" she cried shrilly. "Here?"

"Twice," said Sylvanas.

" _Twice_? You didn't want us to say anything to anybody!"

"Because we wanted to be the ones to let people know. Though I guess I took that decision on my own," Faith looked at Sylvanas, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Sylvanas told her, kissing her cheek. "It was a hell of a kiss."

"You two aren't going to do that all the time, are you?" asked someone behind them.

Faith and Sylvanas turned around, seeing Shandris there with a frown on her face. "Do what?" asked Faith, already feeling defensive.

"Make out in front of everyone."

"And if we are?" asked Sylvanas.

"We don't need to see that."

"And what problem do you have with it? The fact that we're two girls, the fact that she's a warlock, or the fact that I'm a Tal'dorei?"

"I just have a problem with seeing two people groping each other in public, that's all. My neighbors do it all the time at home, and it's a little… gross."

"Did I grope you?" Faith asked Sylvanas, genuinely curious.

"No, I would have definitely felt that." She looked at Shandris, "It's not like we planned on making out in the middle of the hall."

"So you're not going to do that again?"

"I dunno, it was fun."

Faith laughed, "Say the word, and I'll kiss you."

"No. We don't want to scandalize the young ones."

"You're the one who wanted to let people know so that you could kiss me in public," said Faith. She squeezed Sylvanas' hand, "Come on, we shouldn't stand here like that. Everyone's staring at us."

Still hand-in-hand, they began walking around, looking at all the booths and sampling the various foods there. Little heart-shaped tarts and crimson-colored cordials were the general favorites, and Faith decided to bring the food back to Sylvanas' room, so that they could enjoy their meal in private.

"You really threw me for a loop when you kissed me like that, you know."

Faith smiled, sipping her drink, "I couldn't hold it in anymore."

"No, I get that. But it was a hell of a statement to make. People are already talking about it."

She was right about that. People started talking about the two of them right away. It was inevitable. Their friends were supportive, but most other warlocks wondered why Faith had to make things worse for herself, not only by dating another female, but by dating someone like Sylvanas, a Tal'dorei.

After his initial shock, Arthas recovered, and couldn't stop laughing his head off whenever he saw the two of them. His laughter followed them nearly everywhere, as though he were pursuing them with the intent to make them feel bad about being together.

"We expected this, right?" asked Sylvanas. "I mean, they were never going to let this go."

"There have been same-sex couples at this school before," commented Faith.

"But I'm willing to bet that a Tal'dorei wasn't part of it."

"Does it really matter what people think? We're not breaking any rules."

"You don't mind that people call you a…" Sylvanas couldn't even bear to say the name some people had been calling Faith because of her relationship with her.

"I'm a warlock, Sylvanas – some of them have been calling me names since they first saw what my track was."

"It's not fair."

"Well, no, I guess it's not, but it's their problem."

"It's my problem too when they insult you!"

"Look, they're jealous. _They_ don't have a dark goddess as their girlfriend."

Sylvanas stared at her, "Dark goddess? Where's that coming from?"

Faith started to laugh, "I think it suits you."

"Don't call me that in public. The last thing I need is a new nickname that makes people think that I feel superior to them all." Nocking an arrow, Sylvanas let it loose, hitting her target dead center. "Your turn."

Hitting her own target, Faith kept smiling, "There's not much anybody can say to stop me from being happy right now."

"I make you happy?"

"A little less chatter please, ladies," said Alleria, coming over to them. "Don't make me separate you two."

They didn't speak again for the rest of their class, but nobody could fail to notice the way they kept glancing at each other from time to time, almost to check whether it hadn't all been an illusion.

"I make you happy?" Sylvanas asked Faith again as they walked towards the castle.

Faith laced her fingers with the Tal'dorei's, "Yes."

Sylvanas looked down at their hands for a moment. This physical contact with Faith was making her feel warm inside, "How? I'm not doing anything…"

"You accepted my friendship without question. Then you didn't mind when we turned our friendship into…" she let her voice trail off, squeezing Sylvanas' fingers gently.

"I didn't think that you would want me that way. I'm still surprised that you sat next to me on the bus."

A smile, "I'd sit next to you any day." Standing on her tiptoes, she placed a kiss on Sylvanas' cheek.

Sylvanas hitched in a breath, her heart hammering in her chest.

"What?" asked Faith, her smile fading. "You don't want me to kiss you?"

"Of course I do. I'm just not used to it yet, that's all."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that you make my hands shake sometimes when you come close to me."

"Oh." Faith blushed, "Is that good?"

"I don't know, I think so." Sylvanas looked at Faith's cheeks and smiled, "You feel the same way about me? When I touch you?"

Faith couldn't speak suddenly, only nodding and biting her lip. When Sylvanas touched her, it made her head spin. But she didn't know how to tell her that without making her think that she was insane. Her eyes found Sylvanas', resting there a while. The Tal'dorei looked right back at her, getting a little lost in the amber depths.

"Are you two going to stand like that all day?"

The girls jumped, looking away from each other and finding Master Rhonin standing there. Sylvanas blinked, "Sorry?"

"Don't you both have class now?"

"Oh my God, Master Medivh is gonna _kill_ me…" Faith looked at Sylvanas, her eyes wide, "See you later?"

Sylvanas nodded, blinking again. She was late for her own class, but at that moment, she didn't really care. She watched Faith leave, feeling oddly empty without her. Part of her wanted to go after her, but she forced herself not to. She _would_ see Faith later…

"It looks like it's a good thing, what you two have," said Master Rhonin quietly.

"You think so?" Sylvanas' voice sounded rough with emotion.

"I do, yes. She seems to care about you a lot, and unless I'm mistaking that look on your face, you care about her a lot too."

"Yes… but I'm afraid something's gonna happen to break us up. People aren't happy about us."

"The people who care about you are happy for you."

"My sister isn't."

"Alleria still needs to come to terms with the fact that you're a Tal'dorei now. She doesn't hate you, she just doesn't know how to react to what's happened to you, even though it was a while ago. As far as you and Faith are concerned, I don't think that it affects her very much, really, and as long as you're happy, she's okay with it."

Sylvanas glanced at him, "How can you possibly know that?"

"We're colleagues, Sylvanas. She and I do talk on occasion. Now, get to class." He waved his hand and a piece of parchment appeared between his fingers, "Here, you can give that to your teacher. Oh, and next time, try not to dawdle with Faith between classes. I realize it's a new thing and you're both a little starry-eyed when it comes to each other, but don't lose your head."

"We didn't mean to," said Sylvanas, her cheeks darkening.

"I know, and it's okay. Go, now before you're later than you already are."

Sylvanas nodded, thanking Master Rhonin before hurrying to class. She had no idea how she got through the rest of her day, but she managed it. She didn't see Faith at lunch, something that alarmed her until Minnah told her that she'd stayed behind to work on a problem with Master Gul'dan for Fel Studies. It made the day go by even slower, and she found herself distracted until that afternoon, when she went to knock on Faith's door after lessons.

She opened the door immediately, "Hi!" she said, her face lighting up. She was already wearing her store apron, which meant that she was going to be busy for another couple of hours.

"I know you have to go," said Sylvanas. "But I wanted to see you before your shift."

Faith pulled her inside, "You can hang out at the store with me if you'd like."

"I'll just distract you…"

It was true that Faith would be distracted with Sylvanas there. But she had a feeling that she'd be distracted in general that afternoon, "Come with me. Please? You might find some stuff that you'll like."

"I know that your birthday's next week and everything, but if I want to get you a present, I'll need to do that when you're not around."

"You don't have to get me a present," Faith told her, honestly surprised.

"Maybe I don't have to, but I want to."

"You want to?" asked Faith. "I guess I can't say no if it's something that you actually want to do."

"It won't be anything big, you know. I mean, I have no money. Although… I'm thinking about getting a job at the stables. Looking after the animals, you know. They accept student handlers there."

"That would be great! I could totally see you surrounded by the animals!"

Sylvanas smiled, "They probably won't take me because of who I am. Animals don't always respond well to me."

"Uh huh, have you met Ghost? White bobcat, saved my life, and pretty much sticks to you like glue when you're in the woods?"

"He doesn't count, he's wild."

"And the animals have been around Tal'dorei before. Most of them aren't afraid of you. As for the ones who are, I guess that you just need to get them used to you or something."

"You really think it would be a good idea?"

"Yes! You'd love it." Faith kissed her gently, "Okay, I have to go. Are you coming with me or not?"

"I'll go see about the job at the stables, but I'll come see you afterwards, okay?"

"Sounds good. Otherwise, I'll see you at dinner."

Dinner? That was hours away. "No, I'll definitely see you before then."

"Okay, but it would be fine if you didn't. I mean, we don't have to spend every second of the day together… unless you want to, that is. I wouldn't mind. Actually, I'd like it a lot."

Sylvanas sat on Faith's bed, not quite knowing how to respond to Faith's confession.

But Faith didn't seem to be expecting an answer. She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, and held out her hand to Sylvanas, who took it. "Walk with me for a bit?"

"Okay."

They walked hand-in-hand until they got to the store, "See you soon."

"A few minutes, no more," whispered Sylvanas.

"Take your time," Faith told her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

Faith pulled Sylvanas to her until their lips met, "I'm not going anywhere."

But even with that promise hanging in the air, and knowing that she wasn't going to be far away from her girlfriend, Sylvanas had a difficult time leaving.


	10. Chapter 9: Birthday Surprises

**Author's Note:**

Hi everyone! I know, you guys have been waiting quite some time for an update here, but as you know, I've been quite busy with the Evermore series! Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! It was a lot of fun for me to write!

Love,

Lunarelle

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Birthday Surprises**

Rain was falling in sheets outdoors when Sylvanas burst into the cafeteria, looking excited and happy. Her hair was plastered to her head, but she didn't seem to care, even though she was dripping water all over the place. "I got it!" she exclaimed, placing a kiss on Faith's cheek and sitting down next to her.

Faith grinned, closing the book she'd been reading, "The job at the stables?"

"Yes! Okay, so I'll only be cleaning saddles and stuff at first, but it's a job!"

Malfurion, who had been sitting with Faith, shook his head, "You must be the only person in the world who's happy about cleaning saddles."

"Everyone's gotta start somewhere," said Faith. "That's great, Sylvanas, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks! It won't exactly be fun, but it'll be good to have more pocket money."

"You're going to spend it all on Faith, aren't you?" asked Malfurion.

"Oh, I already have her birthday present, so I get to spoil myself for once."

Faith put a hand on Sylvanas' knee, squeezing gently, "Thank you," she whispered, leaning over and kissing her temple softly.

"It's really no big deal."

"It is to me."

"All right," said Malfurion. "Stop looking at each other like that, you're going to make me vomit."

Sylvanas started to laugh, "We're not even doing anything."

"You're looking at each other like you're melding minds or something, it's creepy."

"Melding minds?" repeated Faith. "Is that what we're doing?"

"It's what it looks like from where I'm sitting. I mean, I know you really like each other, but…"

"Do you think we're moving too fast?" wondered Sylvanas. "Because, really, we're not doing much."

Faith nodded, "She's right. We just, you know…" she blushed.

"I'm sure you two have meaningful conversations."

"We do, actually. We were talking about the meaning of life the other day. And about the Dragon Revolts the day before that. You know, in between making out and groping."

Malfurion's jaw slackened, "You… really?"

"We definitely didn't talk about the Dragon Revolts," said Faith, looking the picture of innocence. "Now, the groping, yes, that was fun, really. We should do that more often."

Sylvanas looked at her, "We should, shouldn't we?" She glanced at the night elf and burst into laughter, "Relax! We're kidding! There's been no groping –."

"Or at least not a lot of it."

"Stop it, Faith, you're scandalizing him."

Faith giggled, "All right. Look, if you really must know, we don't really do as much as people think. We hold hands, that's pretty much it. And we spend a lot of time together."

"You don't," he swallowed, rubbing his cheek, "make out or anything?"

"Well," said Sylvanas, "not in public."

"Isn't it weird for you? To kiss another girl?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I don't know. Faith was the first person I ever kissed, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But I do like kissing her. A lot, actually."

Faith cleared her throat, her cheeks as red as apples. She murmured something unintelligible, hanging her head, but Sylvanas put an arm around her, bringing her closer and kissing her forehead.

"Enough, enough, I beg you!" cried Malfurion, laughing. "I don't have a girlfriend right now!"

"So… get one?" said Faith. "I've seen you looking at one of the priestesses."

"Priestesses?" asked Anduin, sliding into the booth next to Malfurion. "Are you talking about Tyrande? She's cute."

"Cute…" Malfurion closed his eyes. "She's more than cute."

"Oh, there's definitely interest there," said Sylvanas, her tone teasing. "Look at him, he's blushing."

Malfurion refused to say anything else, merely putting his head down on the table and groaning. Anduin pat his back with a laugh, "You know, I could talk to her for you if you'd like. Maybe mention your name once or twice, and see what her reaction is."

"I don't think you're gonna get him to talk again," said Faith. "Besides, I'm sure he can speak to Tyrande on his own."

"Probably. But anyways, I came here to talk about your birthday, Faith. Have you planned anything?"

"Not really. I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

"It's your birthday," said Sylvanas. "Of course it's a big deal."

"Not really. When I turned eleven, I threw a party for maybe ten kids who went with me to the sports center, and nobody showed up. They didn't even write to me to say they weren't coming. I was really excited, and I ended up celebrating my birthday alone in my room."

There must have been some pain in Faith's voice, because Sylvanas pulled at her enough to get her on her lap, "That's horrible. I would have come to your party if I'd known you. But you wouldn't have invited me then."

"I would have invited you," Faith told her quietly. "Anyways, since that day, I haven't had parties for my birthday. I don't even know how you found out about when it is."

"I have my ways," said Sylvanas. "And you should celebrate it."

"You don't celebrate yours either, do you?"

"Well, no, but I'm a Tal'dorei, so –."

Faith kissed her. "I'll celebrate it with you…"

Sylvanas blinked a couple of times, "I… what?"

"One kiss, and she scrambles your brain?" wondered Anduin, his eyes wide. "Way to go, Faith."

"What can I say, I'm good." She rubbed Sylvanas' knee, "You okay?"

A nod.

"You want us to go be alone for a little while?"

Another nod. Sylvanas licked her lips.

"What about your birthday?" asked Anduin. "It's next week, we have to plan something!"

"I don't really want to do anything big. Celebrating it with you guys will be plenty, trust me. I mean, I'm only turning fifteen." She got to her feet, and Sylvanas followed her, keeping her hand in hers. "Your clothes are still wet, you should go change."

Sylvanas looked down at herself, "I'm not going to get sick."

"No, but you'll be more comfortable once you're dry."

So they went to Sylvanas' room, where Sylvanas put on dry leggings and a warm tunic. Faith's heart stuttered in her chest as she caught a glimpse of Sylvanas' bare back, her body flashing hot, then cold. She looked away, pretending to glance out the window, even though she could see very little in the pouring rain.

"You can look at me if you want," said Sylvanas, coming to stand next to her.

Faith jumped out of her skin, not having expected her to be so close. "What?"

"I'm just saying. If you want to look at me when I'm changing, you can."

Closing her eyes, she took Sylvanas' hand, "Don't say that. I can barely kiss you without falling apart at the seams… I don't think I'm ready for that."

Sylvanas tilted her head to the side, "You fall apart at the seams when you kiss me?"

"I just mean that… when we kiss, I…" Faith licked her lips and swallowed, "I can't think. I can barely breathe."

Heat flushed Sylvanas' cheeks, "Oh," she said quietly. "I'm… it's the same for me. I don't know why I feel like this. You know, people say we're too young for this but…" her voice trailed off.

Faith's thumb rubbed Sylvanas' hand gently, "I know." She looked up at her and leaned closer, giving her the softest kiss. Both girls gasped at the contact. "Oh… you see?"

A nod, "Yeah." Sylvanas moved away, but that had the effect opposite effect of what she was hoping for, her body instantly wanting to be close to Faith's again. Instead of going back to her, however, she went to sit on her bed. "You really don't want to do anything for your birthday?"

"I don't know," she looked over to where she was sitting. "Your birthday is the week after mine," she stated.

"How do… how did you find out?"

"I asked Alleria."

"Why?"

"Because it's something that I wanted to know about you. I wish you had told me on your own."

"It's no big deal."

"That's what I say about my birthday, but you didn't listen to me then."

"That's different. It's you."

"And it's you."

Sylvanas laughed, "I guess then that we can celebrate each other's birthday instead of celebrating our own, but it'll pretty much be the same thing." She held out her hand, and Faith moved so quickly to take it that it would have been comical to see had Sylvanas not wanted to touch her so badly.

They stayed together for a while, not joining their friends again until it was close to dinner time.

"What in the world did the two of you do alone all afternoon?" asked Minnah, her big eyes wide. "Or do I not wanna know?"

"Oh, nothing," Sylvanas told her. "We just talked about our birthdays and stuff."

"Birthdays? As in more than one?"

Faith told them when Sylvanas' birthday was, and Anduin jumped, "You two have birthdays so close together, and you didn't tell us?"

"All right then," said Sylvanas, "when's your birthday then?"

"June 3rd. But we're not talking about me, we're talking about you!"

Malfurion sat down with them, producing a sheet of parchment and a quill, "Why don't we all write down our birthdays here? That way, we'll have them handy, just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Just so that we can know." He passed the parchment around so that they could add their birthdays, after which he took it back, "Great. I'll ask someone to multiply this so that we can each have a copy."

"That just sounds ominous," said Minnah. "You're not planning something strange, are you?"

"No, of course not," he grinned. The look in his eye was the most mischievous thing Faith had ever seen.

* * *

 _A sliver of moonlight fell upon the nubile body of the Tal'dorei, revealing her nakedness. She was beautiful, more so than anybody the girl had ever seen. Her silver-white hair seemed to glisten in the night, and her red eyes glowed as embers in a fireplace. Her hand was on her pale gray breast, long fingers gently stroking the skin there._

" _Won't you come and play with me, Faith?" she asked. "Please. I need you so badly…"_

Faith opened her eyes with a gasp, the remnants of the dream clinging to her like a cloak. It stayed with her as she got dressed, its images making her feel abnormally warm. In her closet sat a small wrapped box that she intended to give to Sylvanas the following week. Her heart began to beat wildly as she thought about her girlfriend. Was she awake yet? Was she thinking about her? Her head spun, forcing her to sit down for a moment.

She'd never had a dream like that before. It had been so… sensual. So vivid. Her voice…

"For goodness' sake, get a grip on yourself," she said to the room at large.

"Talking to yourself, Faith?" asked Sylvanas from the other side of her door. Faith jumped, as though scalded, and went to open the door, pulling her inside the room quickly. "Whoa… hi."

Faith wrapped her arms around her tightly, burying her head in her neck and inhaling her scent. "Hi."

Sylvanas hugged her back, rubbing her back, "Are you all right?"

"I am now. Sorry, I just had a weird dream last night."

"What kind of dream? Was it about me?"

Faith's cheeks turned cherry-red, "Yes…" she said slowly.

"It was?" Sylvanas grinned, "What was it about?"

"I… we…" Faith swallowed and refused to say anything else.

"Were we having sex?"

Somehow, Faith's blush deepened, "Not… not exactly, no."

"Not exactly? What does that mean?" Sylvanas looked at her, "Were we sort of having sex? Was it good? Was –."

Faith put a hand over Sylvanas' mouth to quiet her, "I didn't get that far into the dream to know what it was we were doing. But you were… I was…" Faith took a deep breath, "You weren't dressed."

Sylvanas' red eyes widened, "And?"

"And I woke up after you told me that you needed me."

"Wow. Really?"

Faith bit her lip and tried walking away from her, but she kept a firm grip on her arm, "I shouldn't have told you."

"Yes you should. It's awesome that you're dreaming about me."

"Not these kinds of dreams… We're too young."

"Hey, we're going through puberty. Having those kinds of dreams is completely normal. It's not like we're going to do anything but kiss anyway."

Faith blushed again, "Right."

"Speaking of kissing…" Sylvanas pulled her closer, "Happy birthday, Faith." Their lips touched, and for a moment, Faith forgot everything but the girl in front of her. She made a small noise when the kiss deepened. Sylvanas held her tighter, trying to take another step towards her, but the two of them were as close as they could physically get.

They pulled away, a little out of breath.

"I have a present for you," said Sylvanas, her voice husky.

"That kiss wasn't the present?" She licked her lips, "Because, wow."

"Mmm, it was good, I know. But here." Sylvanas handed her a box not unlike the one Faith had in her closet. "It's not much," she said quickly.

Sitting on her bed, Faith tore the wrapping paper off the present, and opened the wooden box. She blinked.

It was a pewter ring. Comprised of a wide band that had been beaten until it shone like silver, it had been engraved with a crescent moon and several little stars. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "You didn't… did you make this?"

"Yeah. I don't really sleep much, so I have a lot of spare time on my hands. The blacksmiths allowed me to use the forge once they realized that I could handle it on my own." She put a hand on Faith's face, "You're not going to cry, are you? Faith… come on."

A tear fell from Faith's face, and she leaned forward until she was resting against Sylvanas' hip, "Sorry… I don't mean to get emotional."

Sylvanas ran her fingers gently through Faith's hair, "It's okay. I just don't want to make you cry, even if they're happy tears." She knelt in front of Faith, "You do like it, right?"

"I love it. Thank you, Sylvanas." She took the ring out of the box and handed it to her, "Put it on my hand?"

"Sure." Taking the ring from her, Sylvanas slid it gently on to Faith's left middle finger, "I now pronounce us girlfriend and girlfriend," she said, trying to make a joke out of it, except that her heart was beating a little too fast in her chest. She raised her eyes to Faith's, and before she knew it, they were kissing again.

By the time they made it down to breakfast, they only had ten minutes to spare. Most of the food was gone, save for a few pieces of toast and some apples, which they grabbed quickly before going to sit at their booth.

"Happy birthday, Faith!" cried Anduin loudly, hugging her and causing half the cafeteria to turn around. "How does it feel to be fifteen?"

"Emotional," she said truthfully. Next to her, Sylvanas chuckled.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Sylvanas. "She… I gave her a present and she teared up, that's all."

"You did?" asked Malfurion.

"That's so cute!" exclaimed Minnah.

"What did you get her?" wondered Anduin.

Faith held out her hand.

"Wow," said Minnah quietly. "That's a… wow. Doesn't a ring mean that you're serious?"

"Yes," answered Faith and Sylvanas together.

The others were silent for a moment, watching them.

"You thought we weren't serious about each other?" asked Sylvanas just as the bell rang.

"Well, I mean, we know you both like each other a lot. But if you're _really_ serious…" Minnah's eyes widened, "What does that mean?"

"Just that we're together," Faith told her, lacing her fingers with Sylvanas'. "There's really nothing else for you guys to know. At least, not for now."

They walked out of the cafeteria before separating to go to their classes. Sylvanas gave Faith a lingering kiss on top of the stairs, not wanting to let her go, even for a moment, "I'll see you later?"

"Of course you will." They shared another kiss.

"Ladies, get to class!"

Sylvanas jumped away from her, smiling sheepishly at Master Rhonin. "Sorry." She disappeared a second later, leaving Faith to go back to the Undercity.

* * *

The day went by quickly because they were so busy. Being as they were already in mid-March, the teachers were already starting to talk about finals, which set everyone on edge.

"Didn't we just have midterms yesterday?" grumbled Minnah as they sat down to dinner, bleary-eyed and tired.

"Feels like it," growled Dane.

"Hey, at least you guys didn't have to run through an entire obstacle course while trying to hit targets," said Faith. "That really wasn't easy."

Sylvanas took a seat next to her, dropping her head on her shoulder and groaning, "I can barely lift my arms."

Faith rubbed her back, "It's okay. You can go to bed soon." She kissed her cheek and put some of her chocolate cake on Sylvanas' tray, "Go on, eat some. It's good."

"It's your birthday, not mine. You should eat the cake."

"Your birthday's in six days. Besides, it tastes better to me if I get to share it with you."

Sylvanas turned her gaze towards her, all traces of weariness gone from her face, "Thank you," she said quietly, leaning over and kissing her gently.

The sound of vomiting reached them, followed by raucous laughter coming from a table not far away from them. Arthas and Jaina were watching them with disgust visible on their sneering faces.

"You two should give them a show," said Rega, who had just pulled up a chair to sit at the end of their booth. "Really give them something to scream about."

"Here?" asked Faith. "I dunno, I wouldn't want Vol'jin to summon us to his office."

"Hey, it's just kissing. I mean, if those two seniors over there can devour each other's faces, I don't see why you can't do the same." She pointed to the seniors in question, who indeed seemed glued to each other at the lips.

Sylvanas looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "You want to?"

"Sure I want to. But we really sh –."

Sylvanas kissed her, practically pulling her into her lap. Her arms locked around Faith's waist, and Faith, unable to resist, kissed her back, wrapping her arms around Sylvanas' neck.

"Wow," breathed Minnah.

The cafeteria had fallen silent. Someone cleared their throat very loudly, and Sylvanas gently pulled away from Faith, "Happy birthday, Faith," she said, paying no attention whatsoever to the fact that Master Medivh stood there.

"Thank you, Sylvanas."

Master Medivh cleared his throat again, "Happy as I am to see the two of you getting along, perhaps I should remind you to keep such displays of affection a little more private?"

"Sorry, Master," said Faith quietly, getting off Sylvanas' lap. "We'll try."

"What about those two over there?" asked Anduin, gesturing to the seniors, whom, they saw, were night elves.

"Already being taken care of."

He was right about that. As they watched, Master Wrynn walked over to them, nearly wrenching them apart when they didn't listen to him. Several people chuckled nervously, but Arthas and Jaina were looking revolted. Arthas stood and walked to Master Medivh.

"Wait, you're not going to punish them?" he cried. "It's disgusting to see them like that!"

"No more disgusting than you and Miss Proudmoore making out in the broom closet yesterday."

" _Broom closet_?" asked Faith, Minnah, Sylvanas, and Rega together.

"Breathing cleaning fluid?" wondered Anduin, looking completely innocent, except for the twinkle in his eye.

Arthas glared at them, but couldn't say anything in the presence of a teacher. He went back to his table, draping a possessive arm around Jaina.

"Those two deserve each other," said Malfurion.

"You think they've done _it_?"

Sylvanas stared at Minnah, "Now _there's_ something I want to think about, Arthas and Jaina sleeping together. Please, let's go ahead and talk about that while we're having dinner."

Faith laughed, taking a bite of cake, "I guess they could be cute together."

"If they weren't such a pair of conceited jerks," finished Sylvanas, taking Faith's fork and eating the piece of cake there. "You're right. That is good cake."

"All right, stop it, you two, I mean it," said Malfurion. "You're adorable, but you're making me sad."

"Oh, honestly." Anduin got to his feet and walked to where Tyrande was sitting with her friends.

"What's he doing?" Malfurion sounded shocked.

"She _is_ really pretty," said Sylvanas. "Look at her, Faith."

"Very pretty indeed. And she's a priestess, and she's looking over this way. Smile, Malfurion. Now wave at her."

His movements a little robotic, Malfurion nevertheless did as she told him.

Sylvanas grinned, "Good try."

They watched as Anduin said a couple more words to Tyrande, then came back to sit down. "Okay. You two are going to have lunch alone the day after tomorrow."

"We're… _what_?" exclaimed Malfurion as Rega sniggered.

"She said she'd be happy to have lunch with you, so tomorrow, you guys will go to the booth closest to the lunch line and eat together." He looked at Malfurion patiently, "Look, it's simple. You do what Faith and Sylvanas did. They started talking, and got to know each other."

"But I…" he shook his head.

"You like her. So you talk to her and get to know her. Easy."

"The worst she can do is say no," said Minnah. "Besides, if you don't show up, everyone will think you're no better than Arthas, and you don't want that."

Malfurion looked over at Tyrande, his cheeks a darker violet than the rest of his skin. Nervous, he swallowed.

"I can't wait to see this," said Sylvanas to Faith later. "It'll be fun to see how they interact." She smiled secretly, as she had another reason to get to that day.

She had planned a surprise party for Faith. The others had agreed to plan it with her, having noticed that she was looking a little sad because her family hadn't even written to her to wish her a happy birthday. They had even asked the kitchen staff to bake cupcakes for them.

"I hope I get done at the store in time to see them together."

Sylvanas put an arm around her shoulders, "I'll come and pick you up."

True to her word, she showed up at the store just before lunch a couple of days later, and took Faith to the cafeteria, where Malfurion was waiting like a nervous rabbit sensing predators close by.

"You need to calm down!" said Rega, shoving him playfully. "Everything's going to be okay. All you have to do is have lunch with her and talk to her. It's stuff you do every day: eat and have a conversation."

"But never with a girl."

"What are we, ducks?" asked Sylvanas.

"No, but I mean… Tyrande's… gorgeous."

Sylvanas glared at him, "Okay, you want to be quiet before I hit you."

"You see? I can't do this, I'd better leave." He started walking away, but Faith pulled him back, laughing.

"Okay, look, you'll be fine. Just say hello, tell her she looks nice, grab lunch and maybe make a comment about the food before you get back to the table. Once you're there, just start talking."

"About what?"

Faith shrugged, "Summer's coming up, you could talk about that. Ask if she's doing anything for the holidays, if she likes to travel, stuff like that. Then just see where the conversation takes you. If you're really pressed for a subject, talk about classes."

"Will you come rescue me if you see that I'm in trouble?"

"Sure. Now go on, there she is." She gave him a gentle push before linking her arm with Sylvanas' and going to get herself something to eat.

Evidently, lunch went well for Malfurion and Tyrande. Faith tried not to watch them too closely, but from what she saw things were working out, and when it was over, he happily told them that she had agreed to have dinner with him the following evening.

"See? I told you it would be easy," said Anduin, clapping him on the shoulder.

"She's easy to talk to, like you guys." He smiled sheepishly, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Faith smiled at him before kissing Sylvanas on the cheek, "I have to go back to the store. I'll see you later?"

"Definitely. I'll come and bug you soon."

"Bug me, you don't bug me." Shaking her head, she kissed Sylvanas again and left, opening the store for that afternoon's shift.

She was surprisingly busy, taking inventory for the rest of the day and completely losing track of time in the back rooms as she counted how many books, notebooks, and pens they had left over.

"That looks incredibly boring."

Faith jumped, looking over to where Sylvanas was leaning against the doorframe. She had changed since lunch, and was wearing black canvas pants and a blood red shirt that was striking against her skin. She had braided her hair, and it fell over one shoulder, almost glistening.

"It kept me busy," she replied, shamelessly looking her girlfriend up and down. "You look amazing. Going somewhere?"

"I wanted to make myself pretty for you."

A smile, "Good job." She held up a finger, made a note in the notebook she had on her lap, and got to her feet, dusting off the seat of her robes. Putting the notebook away, she walked to Sylvanas and wrapped her arms around her, "You know, I like you more and more every day."

Sylvanas kissed her, "I didn't know that. I like you a lot too."

"I hope so, or kissing me would be a little awkward. So, where are you going?"

"I thought I'd take you somewhere tonight, just you and me."

"A date?!" exclaimed Faith. "I need to change."

"You don't, you look beautiful."

"You're my girlfriend, you have to say that."

Sylvanas shook her head, "No I don't. If you look like crap, I'll tell you. But if you want to change, you can. Or, actually…" She handed her a black leather cloak lined with soft pale gray fur, "You can just wear this, as we'll be outside."

"You want me to wear your cloak?"

"Please?"

Faith nodded, "Okay." She turned, and Sylvanas fastened it on her. It was heavier than her own cloak, and very warm due to the fur. She immediately felt cozy. "Won't you be cold?"

"One of the advantages of being a Tal'dorei is that I don't feel cold like other people do. I could be naked in a snowstorm and not feel uncomfortable. And it's snowing out tonight, which is why I want you to wear this. I don't want you to be cold."

"Thanks," whispered Faith, putting an arm around Sylvanas' waist. Sylvanas kissed her cheek and grabbed Faith's cloak, slinging it over her shoulder as the two of the left the store.

They walked a short way, towards the edge of Eversong Woods, where Faith could see that something had been set up: a long table on which had been placed several high candelabras. Torches lit the area, and Faith noticed immediately that some kind of barrier had been set up so that snow wouldn't fall on the table.

"Sylvanas… what did you do?"

Sylvanas only smiled at her, leading her closer.

As soon as they stepped through the barrier, Faith gasped. So did Sylvanas.

The magical barrier had hidden the fact that the table had been laden with presents wrapped in brightly colored paper. Dozens of cupcakes were there, along with plates of delicious-looking sandwiches. Over the table, a banner hung in midair, on which had been written the words ' _Happy birthday, Faith and Sylvanas!_ '.

"Surprise!" cried the people assembled around the table: Anduin, Malfurion, Tyrande, Rega, Minnah, Dane and Izzy, all of them grinning.

Sylvanas nearly took a step back, "This… I… it was supposed to be for Faith, not for me…"

"Yeah, we know," said Izzy, winking at her. "But since your birthday's next week, we figured we'd include you in tonight's celebration."

"But…" she didn't get to finish her sentence as Faith kissed her so thoroughly that her mind spun. "Whoa… hi."

"You did this?" she asked, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Originally… yeah, I planned it. But these rascals over there pulled a fast one on me, I think."

"We got them," said Anduin gleefully. "Look how stunned Sylvanas is!"

"I think that's because Faith kissed her," said Dane. "Can we eat now? I'm hungry."

It was an amazing evening. The food was delicious, and the birthday girls, overwhelmed, stayed close to each other, opening various presents.

"It hasn't been easy getting stuff for you two, you know," said Anduin as he handed them gifts. "You're always around the store."

Faith hugged him, "Thank you. I haven't had a birthday party in years."

"You deserve one. And we're lucky the teachers allowed us to have one. But Master Rhonin actually likes Sylvanas, so it was easier than we thought. He set this up with Master Medivh."

"It's great. You guys really did a good job."

He smiled, "We'll have to figure out a way to surprise you two next year."

"No more surprises," said Sylvanas. "I'll admit though, you guys really got me."

"We did, didn't we? That's all that matters."

The party wound down a couple of hours later, when the barrier dissolved around them and the kitchen staff came by to clear everything away. A little giddy, everyone went to bed, although Faith felt, for the first time, that leaving Sylvanas was painful. Part of her felt a disquieting fear at being away from her girlfriend, even if it was just for the night.

This feeling scared her, but she didn't know who to talk to about it. She didn't want to speak about it to Sylvanas in case it would scare her, and she didn't think their friends would understand.

"Faith, honestly, I would appreciate it if you could pay attention to me while I'm teaching," said Master Medivh to her one day, as she thought about that very thing.

Faith jumped, embarrassed as the rest of the class laughed. "I'm sorry, Master," she said quietly.

"Just because you're the strongest warlock in the year doesn't mean you can slack off." He stared at her sharply for a few seconds, before continuing his lesson on voidwalkers. Faith tried to pay attention, but her mind kept slipping in such a way that it was impossible for her to concentrate.

"Stay here a moment," he told her once the bell rang.

Faith sat down again, a little apprehensive. "I'm sorry I wasn't more attentive today," she said. "I'm just a little distracted."

"More than just a little, I think. What's wrong?"

"It's Sylvanas…" she said quietly.

"Are you two having problems?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. It's just that I… I don't like to be away from her, you know? When we leave each other for the evening… I hate it. I have to force myself not to beg her to stay with me all the time. Is that normal?"

She looked so young and innocent right then that Medivh smiled and took a seat next to her. "It's a new relationship. It's normal for you to feel that way for the first few months. When that feeling starts going away, that's when you'll have to start worrying."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that for now, you always want to be with her, which is a good thing. It's possible that this doesn't change, just like it's possible that after some time, the two of you will grow apart."

"But… I don't want us to grow apart."

"Well, I'm not saying it's going to happen now."

"Should I talk to her about it?"

He nodded, "Yes. You should always talk to her about the way you feel. It's a good policy to always be honest with each other. If start to lie to her, it's time to rethink your relationship."

Faith bit her thumbnail, "What if she laughs at me?"

"Has she ever done that?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Then there's no reason for you to think that she's going to do it now. Just let things happen naturally." He stood up, "Now, go. You have a few things to make up in order to be up to date for the quiz I'm giving you on Friday."

"You're giving us a quiz?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Maybe. Now, go study."

She thanked him, and left the classroom, finding herself alone in the corridor. She wound her way through the halls until she reached her room, but instead of sitting at her desk to study, she changed into dark blue robes made of smooth cotton with a low rounded neckline and long sleeves. Once she was dressed again, she took Sylvanas' present out of her closet.

When she opened the door to leave, she found Sylvanas there, her hand raised to knock on the wood. "Oh! Sylvanas! Hi."

The ranger looked at her, a gentle smile on her face, "Hi. Were you going somewhere? I know that we were supposed to meet for dinner but…" she kissed her. "You look beautiful. I love your dress."

Faith kept her eyes closed for a second, savoring the taste of Sylvanas' lips on hers, "Thank you. You weren't supposed to see it until tonight, though."

"Sorry. I wanted to see you. Do you want me to leave?"

Shaking her head, Faith pulled Sylvanas into her room, "No. I never want you to leave."

"I never want to leave either," whispered Sylvanas, pressing her forehead's to Faith's. They kissed, slowly at first, then a little more intensely. Moments passed, and each of them forgot everything else for a time.

"Mmm. I had something else planned for your birthday, but if you'd rather we stay in here like this, I don't mind." Faith rubbed Sylvanas' sides gently, kissing her again.

"Planned? What did you have planned?"

"Dinner. You planned a whole party for me, but I was going to make you dinner."

" _Make_ me dinner? As in cooking? You cook?"

"Well, I bake."

"I didn't know that."

Faith smiled, "I'm not going to tell you all my secrets at once. Anyway, I was on my way down to the kitchens."

"Can I come with you?"

"You don't have to study or anything?"

"I can study after dinner." Sylvanas looked at her, "What? You don't want me to be there?"

Faith bit her lip, "I wanted everything to be a surprise… but I'd rather have you with me."

"I promise I won't look at what you do," said Sylvanas with a smile.

"I don't mind you looking," Faith told her. "Come on."

Hand-in-hand, they left Faith's room and made their way down to the kitchens where a couple of the cooks were waiting.

"Miss Everstone," said one of them. "We got the ingredients that you asked for right here."

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

The sous-chef shook her head, "Not at all. Your meal was actually an excellent idea, so we're making a version of it for everyone tonight."

"A version of what?" asked Sylvanas.

"Chicken pot pie."

Sylvanas' eyes got very wide, "You're making me a chicken pot pie?" she asked Faith.

"Yes. I hope it's good. I've only made it twice before with my mom."

For the next couple of hours, Sylvanas watched as Faith worked, wanting to help her, but unable to do anything besides peel the vegetables and set the table in a separate room. By the time they sat down, she was starving: the food looked amazing.

"You know, you didn't have to go through all that trouble for me, right?"

Faith took her hand, "I wanted to." She handed her the present, which contained a set of small onyx hoop earrings, "Happy birthday, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas leaned across the table to kiss her, "Best birthday ever," she whispered.


End file.
